


All the Young Boys Love Jesse

by Resplendent_Roses



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: & most things inbetween, Ana is Jesse's surrogate mother, Eventual Romance, Friends to Lovers, Genji is a Little Shit, M/M, McGenji - Freeform, Original Character(s), Slow Build, champagne cocaine gasoline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7745905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resplendent_Roses/pseuds/Resplendent_Roses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jesse McCree and Genji Shimada are more alike than anyone could have imagined. They're handsome, popular, and both have unalterable criminal pasts, not to mention a knack for getting into as much trouble as possible. When Jesse goes on a Blackwatch recon mission to Hanamura and comes back with a half dead member of the Shimada Clan for Mercy to save, Overwatch is never the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At The Drop of a Hat

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! My first published Overwatch fic! I really apologize because there may be delays in updates because of travelling, but I'll to my best to keep updating when I can! Thank you so much for reading my fic, feedback is always appreciated! Hope you have a nice day!

Jesse McCree turned 18 under a piercing lilac sky that shrouded the rock of Gibraltar as the sun set. He made his way down the switchback that he had created overtime that led down to a small clearing in the rock face. It sported a single tree, and the best view of the strait. Morroco was just visible through the late evening fog. He sat there for as long as daylight would permit him. It was an hour when the sun finally sank, signaling it was time to go back up to the base. Overwatch had carved it’s watchpoint right into the rock of Gibraltar, and it was the main base of operations for the peace organization. It was also Jesse’s home of eight months until tomorrow, when he was finally able to sign up for the job he had been recruited for. Blackwatch was Overwatch on steroids, and with bigger guns, and Commander Gabriel Reyes wanted him to join. Getting Jesse out of the clutches of the Deadlock Gang was easy, now all he needed was Jesse to be old enough to join.

Jesse grabbed his bag before heading up, and from it he pulled a delicate paper lantern. Fishing his lighter from his pocket, he light the small candle inside and sent it off into the winds.

“Te amo, Mamá,” he muttered, “Thank you for this life, I promise I’ll make you proud.”

 

The next seven years was nothing but hard work. Jesse started at the bottom, but at least Commander Reyes was more or less on his side, and he excelled in everything that his mentor had ever asked of him. Blackwatch was more dangerous and more exciting than Jesse had ever imagined. It beat Deadlock into the dust, and Overwatch with it. And now he was practically the star of the show. He was the golden boy. Anyone who stepped into Blackwatch usually commented that Jesse had a prettier face than Strike Commander Morrison himself, and a mouth that out-talk Reinhardt Wilhelm. He was the fan favorite, but he never considered himself much of a player. Sure, he enjoyed the occasional roll in the hay and loved going out and getting drunk off his ass, but he never tried to be a heartbreaker, or any other kind of sleazy man that slept around with any and everyone he could get his hands on. He never toyed with anyone, and he certainly never played them. Jesse had a heart of gold underneath all of his bravado and never once took advantage of anybody sober or otherwise. And yet no matter how hard he tried, his reputation preceded him, and everyone always painted him as the pretty face that would eat you up if he could. It usually sent all of his relationships down the drain.

 

Which is why he wanted to murder Commander Reyes.

 

“Jesse! You have a minute? Or are you too busy?” Gabriel’s head poked out of his office, calling to Jesse from down the hallway.

The now-twenty-five-year-old Jesse McCree pushed himself up off of the wall he was leaning on, formerly talking to two other Blackwatch agents, and called back, “No sir, what can I do ya for?”

“We have a mission bright and early tomorrow,” Reyes came out of his office fully and strode down to the group of agents, “I could use your assistance. Unless you’re too busy flirting with Santiago and Meyer.”

“Believe me, he wishes,” Rita Santiago laughed in response, pushing on Jesse’s shoulder. She was as tall as Jesse, and from similar background. Both her mother and Jesse’s father had married Americans. The only difference was that Santiago’s family stayed in Mexico while Jesse’s parents had moved to rural Santa Fe.

 “But as I always say, Santiago,” Gabriel mused to Rita.

“All the young girls love Jesse,” they crooned in synchronization, the awful tune that Jesse had been subjected too for the past seven years ringing in the hallway. Reyes had stuck it to him after a rather...interesting incident. It seems Jesse was just too attractive for his own good, but damn was it more annoying than a snake in a boot.

Gabriel elbowed Rita, and the other woman, Laurie Meyer, giggled along.

“Did you really need something Sir?” Jesse asked, all humor taken out of the situation with a dull voice.

“Yeah, come on, we’ll leave Meyer and Santiago alone. Have a good afternoon you two,” Gabriel put an arm around Jesse to usher him towards the office. Jesse managed to quickly tip his hat before Gabriel pulled him inside and closed the door. Despite his playful teasing nature, Gabriel was a man of poise and elegance with eloquence to match. Jesse loved and admired him greatly, but times like this made it just that much harder to remember that admiration.

Jesse stood, awaiting his Commander to take the first crack at what needed to be done.

“McCree?” Gabriel sat down at his desk, shuffled through papers intently until he found the right one, and set it in front of the empty chair next to him. He noticed the sour look on the kid’s face, and snorted, “Come on, Jesse, you hit on anything that moves, it wasn’t an insult.”

“That don’t mean I just sleep with everyone! I hit on people but I’m never disrespectful!” Jesse argued.

His commander ran a hand over his head and looking up at Jesse from his desk, “You know I’m just fucking with you, right?” he asked, changing his tone, “You’re probably the most honorable kid in this bunch, I’m just giving you a hard time. I’m not even sure how you came to the conclusion that it’s an accusation of sleeping around. I assure you, it isn’t.” 

Gabriel had dark, soft eyes, and he was looking up at Jesse like his father always did, a hint of amusement but also deep concern. It made Jesse feel relieved, but also horribly played.

“I never know with you,” was the response as Jesse took a seat. His hands were cool on his forehead as he rubbed his brow in exasperation.

Gabriel shifted in his seat, watching Jesse. “It’s all in good fun Jesse, no one here means anything by it other than some playful teasing. No one takes that shit seriously.”

“You’d be surprised,” Jesse huffed, “Now, what do you have for me?”

“Tomorrow’s mission. Hanamura. Nightfall. Recon. You, Santiago, Burke, and Jay. Word around says the head of the Shimada clan is dead, and his son has taken charge, but it’s unconfirmed. Kid’s name is Hanzo, it says here. Deadlock had dealings with them yes? So I’m putting you in charge. I need anything you can get your hands on. If leadership has truly changed hands, we need to be prepared for anything. It would be a risk to underestimate his son when he could end up being worse than his father.”

“Yeah, Deadlock had dealin’s with ‘em. Don’t mean I ever crossed over seas to get tangled up in that mess. I heard enough stories.”

“What kind of stories?”

“Mostly about the occasional guy that got their hands taken off. Or worse. Disrespect means a lot to that family, and they don’t take it lightly, that’s for sure. Deadlock was lucky that they had a tolerance for business partners that could wage a good war if they wanted to or else we woulda lost a lot of guys.”

“Well, the stories I’ve heard mainly revolve around the youngest, Genji Shimada. A real rebel. Eyeliner, nightclubs, the works. And his father was what kept him from getting his ass kicked by the rest of the clan. Don’t get me wrong, the kid’s lethal, but I bet he’s in hot water now that his dad’s dead. We can use that to our advantage and hopefully get him to spill.”

The picture of Genji Shimada that was tucked into the file was something else. It was a quick, slightly blurred photograph of him and his brother as they were escorted into what Jesse guessed was Shimada Castle. He was walking backwards, a large orange scarf flying upward in the wind, talking to a man who was slightly taller, and more put together. That must have been Hanzo. The surprising thing about it was Genji’s face. Jesse couldn’t tell if it was the blur, or his genuine complexion, but the guy looked like he was wearing full makeup, eyeshadow, eyeliner, the works. Next to Hanzo, he looked like showgirl, especially with the acid green hair.

“So what? I’m going to Hanamura to kidnap him?” Jesse asked, slightly distracted by the picture. Genji Shimada looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, even as the son of a crime lord. It was a little mesmerizing.

“No, I just want you and the others to be in the right places at the right times in case he decides to go out. If you wait long enough, you might find yourself speaking to this young man, and if you play the cards right, he might give us what we need to take down the Shimada clan for good.”

Jesse nodded. “If I can get my hands on him, he’ll talk,” he said, furrowing his brow and looking through more of the files. Pausing on a different picture of Hanzo but carrying on until he found the map.

“Oh, I know he will.”

Jesse blinked, running the reply through his head again before dropping the files and whining, “Aw Gabe, that’s not why you’re really sending me is it?”

“All the young boys love Jesse too,” Gabriel cooed.

“Sweet Jesus.”

“Okay okay, all jokes aside, all I want you to do is talk to him.  If you even see him that is, which I doubt you will. But you’re cute, he’d probably listen to you more than he would Santiago, if you catch my drift.”

Jesse closed the file a little too hastily and pushed it away, “And of course you would know.”

“Of course, I know everything. Your carrier has already been prepped, you leave at 0500. Get as much info as you can in the next day or two. If you can destroy a few of their caches without getting caught, do it. God knows we need less of their weapons on the streets. But take it easy, nothing big. I don’t want to wake up on Wednesday with any headlines.”

“You got it, boss.” Jesse said, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his jean pocket. He placed one in his between his lips, searching for his lighter, “Anything else?” He asked.

“No, that’s it. Just keep your wits about you while you’re over there. The ninjas are something else.”

“Right, see ya later Gabe.”

“Later, Mijo. Come back in one piece or else Ana’ll have my head.”

“Sure thing.” Jesse tipped his hat and pulled the office door shut behind him. His head shot up, looking for any remnants of Santiago and Meyer. No luck, they were already gone. He wanted to give Santiago a heads up about the mission while also thinking of something witty to say that might get a sliver of his honor back after Gabriel made a fool of him in front of her.

“Well shoot,” he hummed into the cigarette. He finally found his lighter halfway down the hallway, going outside to the only place he was actually allowed to smoke. He pushed the door open with his foot, lighting the cigarette as he stepped outside. It took him a second of looking around at the tarp covered storage crates to realize he’d gone out the wrong door. Storage was currently being used for Blackwatch barracks, so most everything got put outside. These particular beauties looked to be housing medical supplies, and that meant-

“Jesse McCree what have I told you about that filthy habit!” came the almost expected shout from the window to his right, which was open. It led to the office of one Dr. Angela Ziegler, chief medical officer of Overwatch and the kindest woman Jesse knew. Besides Ana of course, lo siento Mama.

“Oh hush, Angie, ain’t hurtin’ no one but myself.”

“You are ruining your lungs.”

“Yeah, you think cancer’s really gonna get me before a bullet?” He shot back, “Just let me be.”

“It’s my obligation as a doctor, Jesse,” she said, appearing at the window.

“Don’t mean you gotta tell me every time we meet,” He said. His hand came up to block the late sunglight so he could get a better look at her, her arms crossed and pressed on the windowsill as she leaned outwards to greet him.

“Maybe if you weren’t smoking every time we met I wouldn’t have to.”

“Fair enough.”

The pair of them were silent, listening to the wind meet the rock face. Gibraltar was beautiful this time of year. Jesse was glad, Gabriel had picked just the right time to move Blackwatch into it’s parent facilities for the summer so their base could be completely refurbished. It meant Jesse got to stay in his favorite place on earth until at least January. Means he also got to see all his pals. Angela, Ana, Jack, Reinhardt, Torbjorn. Maybe he’d even see little Fareeha if she stopped by. He always liked her.

“You seem restless,” Angela commented from the window.

Jesse pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and tapped the ash into the makeshift tray he had placed out here. “Mission tomorrow, that’s all.”

“Jesse McCree? Nervous for a mission? Something tells me you’re lying.”

His attention was immediately drawn to the window. She still stood in the same position leaning against her frame, but now she looked like she was analyzing him. Her eyes flicked over him for physical injury, which she wouldn’t find, and then their eyes met when she decided to search his face for emotional injury. They were locked in a staring contest of Jesse trying to get her to leave him alone, and Angela trying to get him to open up, because she can help. He knew she could help, because Angela could always help. And she could always help because she made her mission statement to fix everything and everyone no matter how daunting the task. Jesse naturally gave in.

 “And something tells me you need to stop being right about everything,”

She laughed, and it was like verbal sunshine, “Do you want to come inside and talk? I have some other paperwork to finish before dinner, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, be there in two shakes.”

The window clicked shut, leaving Jesse to release a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. The cigarette between his fingers glowed in the dimming sunlight. The sun was setting on another day.

 Angela was sitting down when Jesse made his way inside. She had put on her glasses and was now chewing on a pen as she flipped through the pages of a stapled document.

“Could this have anything to do with why Rita and Laurie were laughing like a couple baboons earlier?” She asked without hesitation as soon as her door swung closed.

“Right down to business I see, and yes, you must be psychic,” Jesse grabbed the chair in front of her desk and swung it around so he could sit in it backwards. 

“Not hardly, I know your name when I hear it and they were going on about you flirting with them.”

Jesse groaned into his arms on the back of the chair, trying to muster up some regret for taking up the offer to have this conversation.

“It’s that stupid joke Gabriel has going, isn’t it?” She asked again. Jesse’s immediate groan afterwards, this one slightly louder, said yes.

“Gabriel I can handle. The joke is pretty funny when I actually think about it. Like you and the Angel jokes. It’s just the rumors about me that people are starting from it make it real hard to actually start a relationship around here.”

“What rumors?” She asked.

“I don’t know. They think I’m some kind of hussy. Not really a cheater but, like, a guy who sleeps around for fun? No strings attached kinda thing.”

She looked up at him, her brow scrunched with a look of utter disbelief at what he was saying, “You are the most strings attached man I’ve ever met,” she argued.

“I try to be!” Jesse said, throwing his hands up, “If I’m ever gonna end up with somebody it’s gonna be someone in Overwatch. I don’t think I could stand having a job like this and a family somewhere else. But I guess that means I sleep around.”

“Anyone who believes such things without knowing you is obviously too pig headed for you to date anyways,” She muttered, skimming the papers again. The opportunity to study her was all to enticing. There were prominent circles under her eyes, mostly likely earned by doing the work she was currently immersed in. But also around her face were the small yet noticeable laugh lines that had started to take form.  “You are like a magnet, and I think that’s what Gabriel is poking at. You’ll find someone on your level. Overwatch is a big organization after all, I would be surprised if someone as kind and charismatic as you couldn’t find a partner.

“Thanks Angela, same to you,” Jesse said, leaning up from the chair and peering over at her tabletop, “Whatcha working on?”

She placed a hand over the top paper, obscuring it from view. “Something important, Jesse, very important. The work with my staff has been progressing very nicely, but a lot of key members of Overwatch and the UN want to start weaponizing my research, something that I was against from the start. In fact, it was my one request upon joining up. I need to convince them that the medical purposes have come far enough that I don’t need to advance the research by using it for less than reputable purposes.”

“They’re demanding more results?” Jesse asked, “bigger and better stuff?”

“Yes, and if I can’t get them, they’re going to think that all the money they’ve used for my research isn’t yielding enough, so in order to get their money’s worth out of me they’re going to start green lighting projects like Torbjorn’s biotic rifle. Have you seen that thing? It’s primary purpose is acute, sniper accurate, healing through the use of darts containing my formulas, but he’s proposing rounds that could kill someone by reversing the effects of my work and degenerating the cells instead of regenerating like I intended.” She removed her glasses, and in doing so, jostled most of her hair out of the pony tail it was in, “He claims it would only be used in defense, and support purposes, but I know, this is the gateway to worse things. The only way I would ever approve of this would be if there was limited distribution. Meaning senior Overwatch members only.”

“Could you imagine Ana with one of those?” Jesse asked, rotating a paper and examining the design.

“She would be the only person I would personally allow to have one, but I have a feeling Jack and Reyes are going to go through with some of these plans with the idea of mass production in mind.”

“I hope you find your answers. This is…well this is way too smart for me, and above my paygrade at that,” Jesse pulled his hat back to scratch his head.

“I hope I do too,” She sat back and rubbed her face before standing, “I’m off to get more coffee. I’ll be working well into the night to try and fix this. You should rest for your mission.”

“Agreed. Goodnight Angel.”

“Goodnight Jesse,” She replied, seeing him out. She disappeared down the hallway in search of one of the many staff rooms that could possibly hold a coffee maker.

 Jesse made his way back to his room. Being one of the senior members of Blackwatch, Jesse wasn’t forced into storage with the others, instead he had a spot just down the hall from the chief staff of Overwatch. Chief staff including the one person Jesse had yet to see in the past week since his arrival. He paused, his room in sight, when he decided to knock on the door marked clearly. Ana Amari. When there was no reply, he twisted the doorknob and peeked inside the room. The bed was made, all of Ana’s pictures stared back at him from her walls. He even saw his own face, with Ana and her daughter Fareeha, right above her bed.

“She’s not back from Egypt until tomorrow,” a voice came from the next door over. Quick as he had opened it, the door to Ana’s room was forced closed. He turned on his heel to address the man watching him, none other than Commander Jack Morrison. His yellow hair now sporting some noticeable grey, but the same Jack Morrison Jesse remembered from the last time he was in Gibraltar. Kind face, tall stature, and a commanding presence that made almost anyone want to respect him on sight.

“Shoot, I gotta mission to Hanamura tomorrow,” Jesse adjusted his hat and held out his hand to Jack, expecting a handshake but receiving a hug instead.

“It’s good to see you, Jesse. We’ve missed you, Ana especially,” Jack said, something heavy in his voice, almost like regret.

“I missed you guys too.” The strong arms around him tightened, and he reciprocated, “Ma especially.”

“She would have stayed, but Fareeha just started school, and she wanted to see her off,” Jack pulled back from the hug to put his hands on Jesse’s shoulder, “She’s twenty already, can you believe it?”

“Pipsqueak is twenty?” Jesse’s mouth fell open, “I…guess that’s right. I’m what, twenty-five now? Heh, I tend to lose track. Where did the years go?”

Jack smiled fondly down at him and nodded, “Where’d that seventeen-year-old kid go, huh? The kid that made us all watch Clint Eastwood flicks till we dropped?”

“Haha, he’s still here,” Jesse joked, “And I did bring some dvds with me to watch.”

“You still have that century old dvd player Reinhardt gave you?” Jack crossed his arms, a hint of amusement playing across his face.

Jesse removed his hat to thumb the rim in his hands, a habit that he somehow assigned to when he was reminiscing, “Course I do! That was one of the coolest presents he ever got me! I’m surprised he found something so old, it’s practically a relic.”

“Ana’s going to be so happy to see you,” Jack’s eyes looked Jesse over with fondness, like an old man reliving a lifetime, “But, you mentioned that mission to Hanamura, I’d get off to bed.”

“Yessir, g’night Jack,” Jesse bowed slightly.

“Goodnight Jesse, glad to have you back.” Jack nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before going back into his room.

With Jack’s door shut and the hallway dark and quiet, Jesse finally found his own room, quickly stripping down to his underwear and taking to the bed. He didn’t fancy pajamas too much, but did take care to place his hat on the night stand. Ana, his surrogate mother, and Mary Ann, his birthmother, were encased in picture frames on his bedside table, along with pictures of him and Fareeha that were frameless. He pushed one of Fareeha aside to see one of him with another young girl, shorter than him by at least a head, with the same mop of dark hair. Sadie, his little sister. The picture was old and crumpled with Sadie’s smile still staying golden after all these years. His eyes pressed shut and he willed himself to sleep, inviting dreams about his long lost family, and the new one that occupied the rooms around him. He would never remember being prepared for the day and mission that would come the next day.


	2. Shooting the Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone so much for the amount of positive comments and I've gotten for this fic! I'm going to try and reply to everyone as comments keep coming up, I always love the feedback! Now that I see how interested everyone is, I'm going to try even harder to keep pushing out chapters, and I'm so excited to keep working on this! If you ever want to talk about this fic for maybe clarifications/ideas/headcanons please message me at my tumblr: Resplendent-Roses and I will be more than happy to talk to any and everyone about McGenji and other Overwatch stuff!

There was a flash of intense light that brought Jesse back to consciousness, accompanied by a soft hand running through his hair.

“Wake up Jesse,” came an equally soft voice. Like rich tea, the sound flooded Jesse and made his heart warm, prompting him to open his eyes.

“Ana?” he questioned, blinking.

“Good morning,” The older woman was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching over him. Streaks of silver grey running through her dark hair, and a few more wrinkles in her eyes from all that smiling she did, Jesse was overwhelmed.

“I missed you Ma,” He sat up, not even caring that he was without his shirt, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. She returned the gesture and pressed her face to his cheek.

“I missed you more,” the whisper ghosted Jesse’s ear, and he wanted to cry. It had been so long. He tightened his hold on her, hiding his face in her shoulder, his eyes closing so he could focus on savoring the moment with the woman who changed his life. He could almost even smell her perfume.

When he opened his eyes again, he was staring at the ceiling. Covers still pulled up over his shoulders and a small spot of drool on his pillow.

He sat up in confusion, rubbing his eyes. “Ana?”

The room was dark and silent, no sign of Ana or that she had even been there. His clock said 3:47, only 12 minutes until he was supposed to wake up to get ready for his mission. Pulling himself out of bed, the grogginess of sleep fought for it’s hold, but was eventually pushed out when he gathered his clothes and equipment. Jesse was very much about being casual on missions and in daily life, hence the cowboy getup with only the armor plating retaining it’s Blackwatch origin, but recon was something else. Night recon was the only way you would get Jesse McCree into a standard issue Blackwatch uniform. The black pants weren’t the most comfortable, but in appreciation of Jesse’s aesthetic at least Gabriel managed to get him some black chaps to match.  He was halfway through the buttons on the coarse black shirt when there was a knock.

“Come on in,” Jesse called, the last few buttons being put into place before he grabbed for his armored vest.

“You almost ready?” It was Rita, her hair pulled back and her uniform looking like it had just come back from the dry cleaners.

“Yeah,” The clips on the sides of his vest clicked into place and he adjusted it accordingly before moving to his holsters. The belts went first. Rita snorted when she caught sight of the belt buckle, lovingly brandished with the phrase “BAMF” but kept any other comments to herself. He finally got under his bed to his lockbox, dragging it up and opening it. Two guns laid inside, polished and ready for action. The two now-relic revolvers were all he had left of his father. He tucked them safely into his holsters and Rita couldn’t resist.

“What do you call those things anyways?” she asked, “Eastwood and Wayne?”

“Peacemaker and Peacekeeper,” Jesse replied, smiling at a nearly forgotten memory that he now got to play out for Rita, “They’re Colt .45 Peacemakers that my Pa gave me before he passed. He told me he thought it was a cool name for a gun, but he couldn’t just call ‘em both Peacemaker.”

“Two revolvers seems like a little much don’t you think?” she asked.

“Yeah, you try using a six shooter in a fire fight and tell me how far 6 bullets gets you,” Jesse mumbled, grabbing a few loose pictures and stuffing them under his vest. If he always kept Ana and his family with him, he would always feel protected.

Rita shook her head, “You seem perfectly capable of just using one, I’ve seen you do it before. Besides, it takes up all the room on your belt. You should get some flashbangs or something.”

“Fanning the hammer is great n’ all when I really want someone dead, but not when I’m surrounded,” Jesse argued. He stood back to think about it for a second, however, and concluded with a mention of, “Flashbangs, huh?”

She leaned forward, hands on her hips, to study the one on his left side as he went back to the lock box, “How do you even reload?”

“Jesus Rita you’ve spent the past seven years fighting alongside me in combat, don’t you know how I reload?” He asked, turning around from rummaging in the lock box with his ammo strip in hand.

She shook her head. “All I know is that when I hear those revolvers, enemies drop like flies. You’re the quick and they’re the dead,” she said with a finger gun motion.

“Ha,” Jesse said, “You guys do pay attention to my movies, I’m touched. We should train together some time if you’re that curious,” he suggested, tensing as he remembered his hat, and grabbing it from his bedside to put it snuggly on his head as if it couldn’t have waited.

“I’m sure we can set something up,” She said, extending a fist, which Jesse immediately replied to, bumping it. He led her out of the room and towards the hangar, down the hallways that Jesse had memorized at seventeen, and never forgot. He’d walked them so endlessly, gofering coffee to Angela and Jack in between missions, that he’d probably have the map of this base imbedded in his mind until he died.

“Hey, Santiago,” He said, breaking the smooth silence that had carried them almost towards their team, “About yesterday-“

“We didn’t mean any harm by the joke if that’s what you’re wondering, and I know you weren’t trying to come on to me,” She interrupted.

“Well shit,” Jesse said, “Ya literally took all my words, how am I supposed to explain myself now?”

“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” She said, “Laurie was convinced you were flirting with her and then I had to tell her that after seven years, I’ve seen the difference between you being friendly and you being flirty and that was apparently convincing enough.”

“Well that’s one mark off the checklist for today,” Jesse hummed, “Now I have another matter of business.”

“Oh?”

“Is Amari here yet?” He asked, with hope.He hadn’t seen her in a couple years now, not after what had happened, not after their fight. Even though he had been messaging Fareeha almost weekly asking how they both were, he never accepted an invitation to speak with Ana. Everything he had to say had to be in person. An apology that big couldn’t be pushed through a tiny phone. He wanted to say something this morning, but he either fell asleep or hadn’t woken up at all and was dreaming, he honestly couldn’t figure it out.

“Not that I’ve seen. I heard from Reyes she was arriving later today,” She stopped to grab her weapons from the set of lockers outside the hangar doors. She had a sidearm and a standard Blackwatch assault rifle, nothing near as fancy as the pulse rifles Morrison and Reyes got, but it could hold it’s own.

“Huh.” He frowned in remembrance of earlier that morning and came to the conclusion that it was dream. He popped the sticky door to the hangar open and held it for Rita.

“You’ll have plenty of time with her after we get back from this,” she said, a hand on his shoulder briefly as she passed. Jay and Burke were waiting, already warming up their carrier. It was a smaller model, faster. Didn’t mean the trip still wasn’t going to take thirteen hours however. Jesse secured everything they’d need, making sure they had their files on hand as well as potential disguises. They were doing recon tonight, and Jesse was going to try and get his hands on some dangerous files from Shimada Castle, then tomorrow before they left they’d snoop around and snoop around to get into contact with Genji to see if they could get any additional info. Jesse had one final meet with Reyes to confirm everyone’s presence and go over the assignment one last time. Gabriel gave them the thumbs up and Jay took them out of the hangar and into the air. Their new program that Torbjorn and Morrison were setting up was well in control of their autopilot once they were high enough.

Jesse was still getting used to the idea of talking to the computers, given that he grew up in a town that was so outdated it hurt. Her name was Athena, and she was nice enough, even giving Jesse suggestions when he inevitably broke out his pack of cards and started in on a game of solitaire. It soon turned to poker between the four agents, and it ended with Jesse’s wallet fat with cash and three people who vowed never to play with him again. Same old, same old, they said it every week and every week they’d give in and play a few games anyways.

“Come on, someone has to beat you eventually,” Burke said, throwing his cards at Jesse.

“I’d love to meet ‘em,” he cackled.

The card games bought them maybe four hours. They took turns napping, had a few rounds of ‘would you rather?’ and Jesse even threw Clint Eastwood on the little tv monitor meant for video calls back to Reyes.

“He’s gonna kill you,” Jay commented, shoving his hand into the bag of popcorn they had made. It was simple when Burke had a heat laser built into his gauntlet.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been rigging Overwatch monitors since I was seventeen and Reyes has never once caught me,” Jesse said, watching the cowboys on the screen, “I’ve hid like every western that was ever made into the data banks so I can pull them up wherever.”

“What’s really frustrating is that no one can catch him doing it, and he has managed to switch every important video we have ever tried to watch with this shit,” Rita said, “That blood vessel in Reyes’ forehead budges out another millimeter with every safety video he tries to run that ends up being Dirty Harry instead.”

“Haaaa he never learns either,” Jesse said, wiping a tear from his eye.

More time goes by and Athena announces they’re arriving in Hanamura. The white carrier blends in amongst the clouds, but for the descent, Burke sits down and runs the camouflage, activating the reflecting panels and they land just in the outskirts of town with no opposition. They leave their playful dispositions behind and set up. Jesse placed the ear bud in and slipped the microphone on his shirt collar.

“Test,” He said into it, “Test, It’shighnoon, Test,” he coughed.

Rita, who was sending confirmation back to Reyes that they had safely arrived, called over her shoulder, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Jesse laughed, continuing his work on the monitors, linking everyone’s communications.

“First order of business is setting up cameras, microphones, and motion sensors,” he explained, “Tomorrow, we go out in disguises and find out as much as we can about the recent Shimada activity. As per Reyes’ annoying request, I’m to stay in the ramen shop and arcade to try and catch Genji Shimada and hopefully get some info out of him.”

“And tonight?” Jay asked, pulling out the briefcases with their equipment.

“I’m going in. I’ve done this run a million times, sneak in, grab something that looks important, and sneak out. Shouldn’t be too hard if they’re all asleep. What Reyes wants me to go in and get is information about Hanzo Shimada, the new leader of the clan, and the circumstances of his father’s death. I’m only going in to grab one file folder. Rita, you can take it away if you’d like, Reyes spoke to you more about the mission than he did me.”

“That’s true. I keep telling him you need to be properly briefed but apparently you’re too good for that. Anyway, what Jesse is referring to is something that came up in an anonymous tip, most likely we think, from Genji himself,” She said, pulling the screen up to show them, “It’s a black file, containing some rather discriminating details about the death of his father, and how Hanzo plans to handle business ventures now that he’s in charge. Supposedly, the file was compiled by Genji and cannot possibly be missed by the clan because they don’t know it exists.The tip is that it’s hidden somewhere in the back garden, and we’re to support Jesse while he goes in to look for it.”

Jesse confirmed, “That’s right. You three are only going to be my backup. You’re all going to stay close to home, hear me? I don’t want anyone getting near that castle, it’s too dangerous. This is a simple stakeout for you three, leave the recon to me. If I get into trouble, don’t engage no matter what, just retreat, even if it means I get left behind. We’re here for a very limited time, let’s keep it that way.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and then Jay and Santiago went to go set up the cameras, microphones, and sensors. The night swiftly approaching, they’re able to hide their military gear underneath thicker clothing as they pretend to window shop and converse with the local people, fishing for info. Santiago dominates the conversations, being the most fluent in Japanese between the three of them. Jay lets her chat up anyone who might be watching while he casually sticks the bugs into place. There’s a total of five cameras, three motion sensors on each of the major exits of Shimada castle, and almost 12 microphones placed outside, in the ramen shop, and the arcade. When they finally return to base after receiving Jesse’s confirmation that each device works, they’re exasperated, and Jay almost barrels into Jesse.

“You’re never going to believe this!” He says, “Mr. McCree, we got him!”

“What? Got who?”

Santiago put her hands on her hips, impressed, and while Jay was too excited to even speak, she explained, “Jay here almost ran straight into Genji Shimada as he was leaving the ramen shop, and had some pretty quick thinking.”

“I bugged him!” Jay said.

“No shit! Good job kid, that’s gonna be damn useful tonight,” Jesse said, nudging his shoulder.

“And tonight’s coming up quick. It’s one hour to sundown,” Burke announced.

“Lets see what Jay got then,” Jesse took a seat, the others following suit.

“Genji’s microphone seems to be active,” Burke said, swiping a finger across the monitor to pull up the audio. Rita listened intently, translating when she felt it was important, while Jesse took to monitoring the videos. It was nearly sundown, and very boring.

Jesse waited and waited, switching between looking at the screen and watching Rita’s face as she listened.

After a few minutes and a few hurried whispers coming from Genji’s microphone, her face changed to something solemn, and she typed in a message to Reyes, who responded almost immediately, “Get ready to go in Jesse, Reyes and I want you to go observe. Take Jay as your backup. Something’s not right here.”  

“What do you mean?”

“Genji has only spoken to two people since he came back home, the cook about a bowl of ramen, and this woman he’s speaking to now. It’s not his mother, he’s not addressing her as such. It’s not a lover either, she’s definitely a Shimada, it’s in her speech pattern.”

“And that’s suspicious?”

“For a kid who apparently loves his big brother more than anything but also happens to be the family rebel,” she said, sliding some pictures his way. They were of both Genji and Hanzo, most of them happy, and Genji always hanging off of the older Shimada.

“What are these?” Jesse asked, looking at the scattered photographs.

“That’s 5 years worth of pictures of the brothers. And this was taken a week ago,” She said, not meeting his eyes as she watched the videos and handed him another picture. It was Genji, walking out of the gates of Shimada castle with a bruise over the whole left side of his face. If Jesse squinted, he could just barely see Hanzo in the background.

“So? The kid’s a ninja, he probably gets bruised a lot.”

“Do most bruises from wooden swords develop in the shape of handprints?” She asked, then turned to Jay and Burke, “Jay, what was Genji like when he left the ramen shop?”

“Upset,” Jay confirmed, “Very much so. I asked the shopkeeper if he was okay and he said Genji’s been very troubled lately, and tensions with his family couldn’t be higher.”

“Well fuck, this is a wrench,” Jesse said, “You think I’m gonna have to storm in there and save the poor guy? Reyes just wanted files, which I can easily get, but if he wants a rescue mission I’m going to need you three with me.”

“Hopefully not,” She said, “Hanzo hasn’t spoken to him, but the woman seemed really tense, and she told him to watch his back, that’s too ominous for me. I just…don’t like it. I want you to check it out and make sure everything is quiet before you go in for real. I’d rather not take any chances.”

“Alright, Jay, you heard her, you’re coming with me then,” Jesse ordered, cracking his neck and opening the door. “Your position is here, stay there and stay under cover. Keep your ass hidden.” Jesse pointed to a spot on the map. He and Jay climbed out, hands on their holsters just in case. Santiago stayed inside while Burke took up the scoping position. Jay made his way to the second scoping spot and Jesse found himself sneaking through the streets of Hanamura until he found his way to the main gate of the Shimada Castle grounds. With all the power he could muster, he scrambled up the lower wall until he reached the top of it and laid down flat on his stomach.He fished for his binoculars and scanned the area.

“What do you see?” Santiago’s voice rang in his ear.

“Dead quiet,” Jesse replied with a whisper, “No one is in the courtyard, there’s no lights on either. I can clearly see the garden where the info is supposed to be, are you ready for me to go in?”

“Wait. Motion sensors are going crazy on the back gate, can you see who’s leaving?”

“A couple guys, real old,” Jesse said, his eyes trained across the way. He had impeccable vision, and a very acute sense of motion. If anything moved, he saw it instantly. There was a thick silence, and Jesse could barely hear the Japanese coming from Santiago’s end of communications.

“Santiago?” Jesse asked, “Santiago it’s all quiet, I’m about to engage to get the files, do you read me?”

“McCree, get out of there,” came the shocked reply.

“Excuse me?”

“You have to leave, right now, get your ass back here,” She barked, “The mission is canceled you have to leave immediately.

“Fuck,” Jesse slid down the wall he had worked so hard to climb up but in the wrong direction, landing straight into the bushes on the inside of the gate, his heart pounding, “Santiago I just landed inside the grounds, tell me what’s wrong!” He caught sight of his hat, and grabbed it before anyone had the chance to appear and see him as he crawled back into the bushes.

“Stay absolutely still if you’re in a good position to hide. I’m going to translate what’s coming from Genji’s microphone, hold on, this is…dear god,”

“What?” Jesse urged her.

“Hanzo just killed him,” she breathed.

~

Hanzo slid the door to his brother's room open. He held the sword behind him, intent on speaking with Genji. A last ditch effort to get things straight before Hanzo was forced to do what he came here for.

"Hanzo? That you?" Genji looked up from where he was seated, cellphone in hand, rapidly typing away. He paused when Hanzo didnt say anything in response, just stared.

"Genji," Hanzo began, "I know you've been saying that you do not wish to take part in your birthright-"

"That's exactly right Hanzo, I don't want to be a crime lord. Very astute of you," Genji replied warily, lowering the phone and watching his brother like a hawk.

Hanzo bit back. Anything to not have to do this, even if it meant letting Genji mock him. He couldn’t let Genji run, he would be hunted mercilessly and tortured if found. It was join, or painless death, Hanzo reminded himself.

"Genji please, I don't want to see my brother on the wrong side of our family. You know what they'll-"

"What they'll do to me?" Genji replied, his voice cool, and somehow knowing, "I know Hanzo. They'll kill me, or worse. I should have run by now, honestly I've been pushing my luck. I just...wanted you to see what they're doing to you. You're a killer Now, Hanzo, a weapons dealer, you hurt people can't you see that?"

"I can. But our first duty to the people who have given us everything is loyalty. Honor and respect, Genji, are you not thankful?"

"I would rather die in the streets of Hanamura with no name than partake in the dealings of the Shimada clan," Genji hissed, standing, "Why are you here, Hanzo, to give me a head start before they come for me?"

"No, brother," Hanzo said, his voice wavering, "they are already here." He flashed the blade of his sword and Genji went rigid.

"Hanzo-"

"If you cannot be reasoned with then I must deal with you myself, it has been decided."

"Surely not by you...," Genji whispered, inching away.

"It is my duty to keep balance and do what is best for the clan, I would not do this if I had a choice.”

"Then don't do it." Genji sounded off now, frightened, and Hanzo knew it would be easy. "You do have a choice, Hanzo, just let me go. I won't bother the clan, just let me leave Hanamura."

"If you leave, they'll do much worse to you if they find you," Hanzo said, choking up, "I would rather kill you myself then let you experience what they want to do to you."

"Hanzo please," Genji said again.

"No," Hanzo swung the blade up and slashed, only to be met by his brother's own weapon. He stared down at Genji as he blocked Hanzo's sword. His warm eyes cold with fear. True fear. Hanzo used his weight and lunged. Genji blocked every swipe, but less and less accurately, less concentration. He tried to nail Hanzo with his spare Shuriken, but all it did was brush the side of Hanzo's face before entering the wall.

"I will stop if you will take your rightful place! Father had coddled you for too long, and let you off the hook too many times, it’s time to do your part for your family and if you cannot than you must perish!" Hanzo brought the sword down again but Genji rolled, grabbing Hanzo’s leg and yanking, not quite uprooting his brother but startling him.

Hanzo steadied himself and watched Genji clamber over to his shuriken. Hanzo was faster, and slashed at Genji’s hands. His brother yelped, and Hanzo finally went for the kill, but Genji once again was too fast, and while Hanzo landed the blow, it wasn’t the fatality he was hoping for. Genji’s eyes widened as Hanzo withdrew the sword from his shoulder. His younger brother swung at him wildly, and Hanzo dodged easily until Genji clipped his leg. Hanzo slashed at him again, this time across the shoulder down the torso. He slashed again and again, making contact with his brother’s arms, legs, his face, anything to get this over with.

“HANZO STOP,” he screamed, “PLEASE.” Genji, soaked in blood, pushed Hanzo at just the right moment and ran out of his bedroom and into the larger common room. He gathered himself again, and waited for his brother. It was his surprise when an arrow shot through the air and hit his hip. He couldn’t do anything, his brain didn’t register fast enough to pull the arrow out or dodge Hanzo’s rush. He found himself flat on his back with his brother on top of him and the sword coming down at his face. He managed to knee Hanzo in the stomach and flip him over, taking the time that his brother was startled to try and flee again, managing to slash at one of Hanzo’s legs in passing. He was too slow. He loosed more shuriken, hitting his mark by the distressed sound Hanzo made. Looking over his shoulder, they were embedded in his brother’s same leg. Slowing down out of pure exhaustion, he put all his effort into one last dash. If he could just get to the wall then he was free. Someone would hear him, someone could help. His legs coiled for the final stretch but Hanzo grabbed his ankle and yanked him backwards. Like a bird fighting back against a hawk, Genji thrashed one last time as he was put on his back, with Hanzo’s foot on his chest. He put everything he had into taking his wakizashi and digging it into Hanzo’s other leg and yanking on it as hard as he could, tearing through muscle and hitting bone.

“YOU FOOL!” Hanzo screeched, bringing his sword down.

~

“My god,” Jesse said, his eyes wide as he huddled in the backspace in the bushes, his eyes watching the direction he had come from as if Hanzo would appear and attack him.

“I don’t know if Genji’s still alive, but he’s been relatively silent so I would assume he is deceased. We picked a hell of a day to end up in Hanamura. What do we do, Jesse?”

“I…don’t know.” He was frozen.

“Motion sensors are picking up more along the back entrance. Genji’s microphone…his mother just found him. Jesse we have to do something”

“Sweet lord, what do you want me to do? I can’t just storm in there and-“ Jesse was cut off by the scream signaling that Santiago had been right about Mrs. Shimada.

“They’re taking Hanzo to a hospital,” Rita paused, “Genji’s body is still in the vicinity, and Hanzo said he can’t feel one of his legs, the other is bleeding profusely. Genji fought back, Jesse.”

“Good on him. Even I want to storm in and kill Hanzo right now, so I’m glad Genji got half the job done,” his voice was shaking, reaching for his lighter and cigarettes which weren’t there. He needed something to ground him. He felt awful for Santiago, who basically witnessed this and translated the whole ordeal for Jesse, Jay, and Burke to hear.

“Cameras are picking up two men carrying a body. Jesse, they’re headed for the front gate, right where you are, hide!” She hissed.

Jesse removed the microphone from his shirt and hurled it over the wall. He saw the two men dragging Genji between them, and snuck out of the bushes. He watched them head for the front gate, and dashed back in the direction they had come, jumping into the garden to search for the files and found nothing, much to his disappointment. He heard the clamboring noise of a dumpster being opened, and he ran back to the gate, swiftly making his exit, his eyes trained on the two men which he could see clearly in the alleyway, pushing a limp arm into a dumpster before letting the lid fall back down. Jesse stayed in the shadow of the gate until they returned to the castle and closed it behind them. He let out the breath he had been holding in, and asked Santiago, “What did they say?” He made his way to the back alley, picking up his microphone and replacing it on his shirt collar, adjusting the bandana around his neck in discomfort.

“They’re setting it up to look like Genji was murdered by assassins, I think. Did they….did they just throw him in the trash?”

“Looks like it,” Jesse’s head flipped around, looking for any sign of someone returning, and opened the dumpster. The youngest Shimada was bent at awkward angles, completely looking the part of a corpse. If his pale complexion wasn’t enough, the almost pastel look of his once acid-green hair was nauseating, like he had just lost all his color. Meanwhile the blood was a fresh, bright, red and the smell of iron sent chills up his spine. McCree wanted to vomit on the spot seeing places where his skin was completely taken off and large chunks of flesh cut out. He dropped the door to the dumpster and turned around, out of breath, and desperately trying to pull himself together. He coughed a couple of times, then laughed in relief when he didn’t actually throw up. Straightening his hat, he faced the dumpster once again.

“Jesse.”

“Shh Santiago, gimme a minute. I wanna at least say a prayer for the poor guy.” he pulled the dumpster open, leaning the lid on the back wall.

“No, Jesse, his microphone, I can hear breathing.”

Jesse froze up, trying to register what Santiago had just suggested, and blurted,“You think he’s alive?”

“Holy fuck I don’t know, get him!”

“Madre de dios,” Jesse breathed, launching himself into the dumpster. He quickly got his arms hooked under Genji’s legs and back, hefting him up closer out of the garbage. He was unsurprisingly light, given that he had to be about half a foot shorter than him, and leaner. He pressed his head to the other man’s bloody chest and Jesse’s heart skipped a beat, “Santiago, he’s alive, I confirm. Genji? Hey, can you hear me at all?” He asked the limp form in his arms. There was no response.

“Burke, Jay, rendezvous with McCree and get them back here, I have biotic fields, and a defibrillator if his heart stops. We have to save his life, do you know what this could mean for us?”

“On it,” the pair replied, now speaking up after minutes of silence.

“No, I’m bringing him back by myself. We don’t need three guys to draw attention. I can get him back unseen,” Jesse argued, doing his best not to drop Genji as he climbed out of the dumpster.

Burke’s voice fired up in his earpiece, “McCree are you insane? They could come back at any second. If they see his body gone and find you, you’re a dead man!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Jesse hissed, sneaking through every back alley he could find, watching the doors of every apartment as if someone would jump out at him and kill him, “I’ve done search and rescue before, believe me, we’ll get back fine.”

He was silent for the next few minutes as he listened to the three of them chatter with each other. At one point he heard confirmation from Jay that radio silence had been enacted to prevent anyone from the Shimada Clan making their way into their communications and learning Genji’s location. That meant talking to Reyes about how to proceed was going to wait until they were well out of Hanamura airspace. The smell of blood was almost overwhelming, sending Jesse all the way back to darker times where he had carried several of his comrades out of battle in just the same way. How he carried people his buddies in Deadlock had murdered and buried them, that was one of his jobs. How he dragged his mother and siblings from the fire. No, now was not the time to be remembering the dead people in his arms. Genji was alive, and Jesse couldn’t lose his concentration or his nerve at a time like this. Instead, he ventured into other thoughts, like what would happen to the young Shimada once they got him back to Overwatch. How would they even begin bringing him back from this? Jesse skid to a halt, looking down at Genji and then swallowing hard. Angela. Angela could do it. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief, but also terror. What would the big guys think of bringing a literal assassin back to them? Well, that also applied to Jesse and about half the other members of Blackwatch, so that shouldn’t be a problem, but it still made Jesse worry for Genji’s safety.

His thoughts lingered on Angela, and what she could do to save his life, but it only brought a sense of dread. He loved Angela dearly, reminded him of his sister, always in his business but always loving to no end. The only difference was that Angela was a doctor, and a scientist, and Jesse had seen some of the fucked up shit she tried to do in order to improve her effectiveness and advance her technology and research. She had kept one of their men whose head had been taken clean off alive long enough for him to inform them of an impending cyber attack, and for him to deny wanting further medical attention. Jesse knew she would never intentionally hurt anybody, but her never-ending hope, her endless drive to save everyone, also meant she could never let anyone die. It was her catchphrase, even, and Jesse was afraid of what lengths she would go to save Genji. But, he supposed, as long as Genji was alive, would it matter? That question boiled in his mind as he continued his way down to the carrier until he reached the end of the streets. Now was when he was going to have to bolt to get back to the carrier without being seen. All that was there was a dirt path, and it was very open. He adjusted Genji in his arms and put a leg back, ready to dash, when there was a groan.

That would be two on the counter of how many times he’s almost dropped this guy.

“Genji?” Jesse whispered with force, and a little terror.

“Hanzo?” came the faint reply.

Jesse’s entire body jolted in shock. His heart was pounding as he stood there in silence, hoping the other man would pass out again, but instead, his head moved to face him. His eyes even opened. And they were…. gorgeous? Jesse found himself mesmerized. They were a brilliant green, something that Jesse never saw in the pictures. They stared up at him, pitiful, on the edge of death, but with a certain knowing feel to them, like he knew he was going to die. They also sparked, as if Genji recognized him in some way,

“Oho-kaaaay,” he laughed in distress. Jesse would always consider it a curse that when he got nervous he laughed. “Howdy,” he said down to him.Genji’s lips twitched, like he was trying to form some semblance of a smile. Jesse broke eye contact momentarily to take a quick look around like a deer about to dash into a meadow full of wolves, and decided it was now or never, starting in on the last stretch back to the others. He held Genji closer to his chest, hoping that in some way, Genji could feel just a little bit of warmth. He was certainly radiating it.

“Hanzo…” Genji said again.

“You’re safe now Partner,” Jesse told him, flicking his eyes back to Genji’s, sneaking along the dirt path to Genji’s only hope of living, “the names’ Jesse McCree, I’m from Overwatch. We’re going to make sure you stay alive okay?”

But Genji’s head fell back into Jesse’s arm again and he was out. The carrier was within sight, and Jesse kicked it up a notch to rush a little faster. But a figure came into view that stood in their way. ‘Oh…’ Jesse thought, “I’m so fucked.”

It was a woman, dressed similar to Genji but with purple hues instead of orange. Her hand on a sheathed sword and her hair tied back like Hanzo’s had been in pictures.

“Uh, hey there,” Jesse slowed to a stop.

“You are Overwatch,” She stated, standing tall, proud, and Jesse followed suit, not backing down to her presence and straightening himself so she could see the full expanse of his shoulders. He hoped to god the three inside the carrier could see them in case he ended up having to fight.

“Yes’m,” Jesse replied, tightening his hold on Genji, they were going to save his life and no woman with a sword was going to change his mind.

“Genji is my nephew,” She explained, taking her hand off the sword and pointing towards the limp man in Jesse’s arms, “He is my little sparrow, if you are Overwatch, are you going to save him?” she asked warily, her hand hovering over the sword like his answer depended on whether or not she would kill him.

“I’m going to do everything I can, but I gotta get him back to that there carrier you’re blocking. You’re not going to slit my throat, are ya?”

“No, I am going to hold them off. They know Genji’s body has been stolen, but not by whom or why. You are a quick thinker-“ she was at a loss for words, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows in question.

“Jesse,” He replied, “Jesse McCree.”

“I will remember that name, because now I owe you a debt, please take care of him.” She said,”I know Genji sent your organization that message, but I don’t know why. Maybe he knew his fate, maybe he didn’t and just wanted some light to be shed, but either way, he entrusted you people with the knowledge he was going to hand over, so I cannot argue. All I ask is that you save him like you promise, and that you never bring him back to Hanamura again, for his own safety.” She stepped to the side, letting Jesse pass, and he nodded to her in thanks and as a promise. He was rushing towards the carrier but was stopped when she caught up with him, pressing a kiss into Genji’s forehead before disappearing in the opposite direction.

“Wait, hold up what’s your name?” Jesse just thought to blurt, but she was gone.

The door to the carrier was open as soon as the others caught sight of him, and he almost rolled in after tripping on the stairs. Make that three on the counter. A built in gurney had been pulled out of the wall and Jay was already taking off while McCree laid Genji down gently and Santiago began strapping him down. She twisted the top off of a biotic field and placed it down next to Genji’s head. They watched as some of his wounds quivered as if they were trying to reform into solid flesh, albeit unsuccessfully.

A few hours later, Jesse was keeping watch over Genji while the Jay and Santiago slept. He was mostly caught in his own thoughts about what was going to happen next, and he sat staring at Genji’s bloodied face for most of that time. When they were absolutely sure that they couldn’t face any attacks from the Shimada clan, Burke opened up the communications, waking Jay and Santiago in the process since an immediate response came in the form of Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison hollering on their screen.

“Where have you been?! We have been trying to make contact for hours, explain yourselves.” Gabriel spouted, relieved that they had been let through, but boiling angry. His face said it all. Neither Jesse or Reyes would ever talk about it, since it was pretty well known without having to exchange a single word between them, but Jesse also saw the fatherly concern. The deep worry that something might have happened to his surrogate son without him knowing.

“Well, you see Sir, I uh, I’m just going to let McCree explain,” Burke said, stepping to the side out of sheer embarrassment. Jesse saw the fatherly concern disappear from Reyes’ face, and went to stand. But as he was rising out of his seat, he found that his hand was in fact locked with Genji’s. His eyebrows raised in surprise, not remembering the act, but then he realized it must have been what he was holding onto so tightly in the absence of his cigarettes. He always either needed a good smoke or some kind of physical contact to ground him in frightening situations. God, the fearless Jesse McCree admitting to being frightened was what shook him more than the realization that he was holding hands with a near corpse.  
“Jesse,” Came the call, pulling him back to the present, “Are you alright Mijo?” Gabriel asked upon catching sight of him as he lumbered over.

“Not really,” Jesse removed his hat and scratched his head, “In fact, I’m real spooked.See, I went in for the files you asked for, and we ended up with a bit of a situation.”

“What kind of a situation?” Jack asked.

“Well, first off, Hanzo Shimada tried to murder his little brother while I was in the vicinity.”

“Tried? Did Genji win?”

“No, no, Genji lost real bad don’t get me wrong,” Jesse said, loosening the bandana around his neck and trying his best to avoid eye contact,  “The only issue with his death being that I fished him out of a dumpster and Santiago has him strapped in the gurney with a biotic field.”

The utter shock on Jack and Gabriel’s face was priceless enough for Jesse to probably sell the moment on ebay and make millions, but Gabriel’s face quickly went back to the concerned almost glare that was his trademark.

“You have him?” Gabriel asked curtly.

“Yessir.”

“You seen?”

“Only by this one lady, Genji’s aunt. She turned around so she could hold off any other members of the clan hunting for us. She saw me and knew instantly that I was Overwatch, and she just let me carry Genji out of Hanamura with no issues. She wanted me to take him.”

“This is all very concerning,” Jack said, “Jesse, you could have outed Blackwatch’s existence to the entire world. Do you understand that?”

“Of course I understand that Jack. Do you know what saving this man’s life is going to do for us? We can finally take down the Shimada Clan. We’ve been working on that for years!”

“I’m not going to act like you’re not right, I’m just saying, maybe it’s time we start filtering out Blackwatch before we get caught.”

“Now is not the time for that debate, Morrison,” Gabriel argued, “I’ll inform Angela of what’s happened and have her prep for surgery. What’s your ETA?”

“Bout 12, does that work?” Jesse asked.

“Perfect,” Gabriel said, Jack disappearing from the room. “Do you want to speak with Ana?”

“Not yet Gabe, I’m real shook up, and I’d rather see her in person.”

Gabriel punched in something to the panel next to the camera, most likely alerting Angela, “No problem, she just got here ‘round eleven. I’ll let her know you’re already on your way back. Stay safe.”

“You too,” Jesse said.

The camera clicked off and Jesse returned to his seat, taking up Genji’s hand once again.

“Jesse, I’m worried about you,” Rita said, rising from where she had been asleep on the floor, “Why are you so worked up about this?”

“I’m… just worried. About him,” He said, gesturing towards Genji.

Burke huffed, his arms crossed, “You’ve never even met him.”

“You didn’t see the way he looked at me, like he knew he was going to die, he looked so sad. You guys act like nobody in Blackwatch has feelings. He was dying in my arms, how could I not be upset?”

“Like he knew he was going to die?” Rita asked.

“Yeah, it was fucking awful, I feel so bad for not doing something. I wish I had known this was going to happen I really would have kidnapped him.”

“Jesse, maybe that’s why he sent the message to Overwatch. Maybe he knew...maybe he wanted us to come save him. Did you find the files?”

Jesse put his head in his other hand, tightening his hold on Genji, “No, they weren’t there.”

Rita theorized, her hands waving to try and form some kind of rational explanation, “Maybe he knew we’d come for them. Maybe they didn’t exist at all and he was just trying to lure us so we could find him instead.”

“Maybe you’re thinking way to hard about this,” Jesse supplied, “We were at the right place, and it was the right time. If he really was asking us to come save him, he’ll probably tell us when he wakes up.”

“Why are you holding his hand?” Burke asked.

“He’s all alone now, and I’m pretty much responsible for him. ‘Sides, I left my smokes at home and if I’m not holding on to something I’m gonna lose it,” Jesse told him, running his free hand through his hair. He looked at Genji next to him, and then at the clock that gave them another 4 hours before they were due to arrive in Gibraltar. He gave one last sweeping look around the room before closing his eyes and muttering,

“It’s gonna be a long night.”


	3. The Resurrection and the Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! First off, thank you for all the love I've been receiving for this fic, it really makes me happy to know people are enjoying my stuff! Sorry I haven't updated for a while, this chapter was giving me all sorts of trouble (I admit it's probably a bit ooc) but I hope it's still just as good! I promise the next chapter we get infinitely more Genji!

Jesse was awake on and off during the final stretch back to base. He sat by Genji’s side the entire time, watching their flight pattern on one of the big screens. The small icon of their carrier was almost half a centimeter away from the Gibraltar icon on the map. It would only be about fifteen minutes now. Looking at the still form next to him, he noticed the empty shells of biotic fields strewn all over the pull out gurney and even a few on the floor. 

“I’ve used about 6 fields on him and he’s still not healing,” Rita declared, “After this one gets used up I’ve got one more left, and I’m sure Doctor Ziegler has more but she needs to have them ready when we touch down or else he’ll die.”

“She’ll have them,” Jesse assured her, taking his hand out of Genji’s and placing it on her elbow. His fingers were stiff and numb from the hours of being in one position. “We’ve had enough accidents to know that Angie’s prepared for anything,” He joked.

Rita nodded in agreement, but she didn’t seem convinced to Jesse. Her eyes closed and her lips pursed, he could clearly tell there was something on her mind that she either couldn’t bring herself to say or she couldn’t comprehend. It was surprising, considering she was fine earlier, even skeptical of Jesse for being so worried, which means she had time to think about it and now she‘s worked up too.

“What are we gonna do?” came the question. It was soft, and dripping with pity but also a hint of fear and regret. “We just saved an assassin, what are we going to do?” 

Jesse stumbled, “Well..well Angela will fix him up, and then I guess we’ll just ask him for the information we need.” 

“What if he doesn’t want to sell out his family? What if he’s hostile Jesse? We can lose our jobs for bringing a hostile into base. Do we kill him again? Do we set him loose and hope he doesn’t go back to his family or worse the press and tell everyone about Blackwatch? What are we going to do if he tells us what we need to know, are we going to relocate him? Keep him in Overwatch?” She crossed her arms, watching the shallow rise and fall of Genji’s chest, “I don’t know, I just can’t get the thought out of my head that this was all some ploy. That the Shimada clan set us up and they’re following us back to base right now.” Her hair was starting to fall out of the slipping hair tie, dense curls hiding her eyes from Jesse’s view. “If something this big was about to happen in the Clan, we should have seen it coming. I’ve been monitoring this case for weeks. The murder of an heir is something that explodes with tension, and this was kept so quiet, it’s concerning.” 

Jesse brought a leg up to rest on his knee and with his free hand he fiddled with the spur. “Your mind is racing a mile a minute Santiago, you gotta slow down. We’re just going to have to play it by ear. This all seems way too coincidental to me too, but look how bad he’s hurt, you really think they’d just murder one of their heirs to try and mess with us? Maybe Hanzo did this and it’s all a setup like you say, but I think it just happened. Bad things happen, you know that. At least we were there to save him, could you imagine if Reyes had delayed the mission at least one day? Hell, even a couple of hours and Genji would be dead for real. I think it’s a miracle.”

“It is,” Rita agreed, “He’s lucky you were there. But watch your back, Jesse, just in case.” 

Jesse kept fiddling with the spur while he rested his elbow on Genji’s gurney. Rita was silent for the rest of the trip. She stayed sitting in one spot with her legs crossed and her hands pressed together in her lap.

A few minutes later the alert came in that they were in the final stretch of the trip. Rita activated the last biotic field for Genji, Jay radioed in to Gibraltar to confirm their landing, and Burke took hold of the center stick. When he eased it forward they began a descent. Jesse’s hand went back to Genji’s like a magnet while he braced himself. The way to Hanamura hadn’t been bad, he had to admit, but he still disliked flying, especially landing. All the business done in Deadlock was by trains and cars, plus the occasional horse. It was bumpy coming into Gibraltar, it looked like a storm was starting up in the distance. Rita finally sat down after administering the last field and buckled herself in. Looking outside the window, the scenery was passing in a blur that started to gradually shift into more visible features as the carrier slowed down to enter the hangar. There was a jerking stop when the carrier shifted into it’s hover mode, and when the gates opened, they entered the hanger.

Being back only a day later than they had left, Jesse picked up a sort of sinking feeling in his stomach. They were going to have to be quick to wheel Genji down to surgery. Not to mention his full report to Reyes and Morrison. There was a lot of work to be done and Jesse was starting up that feeling he got every time he finished a rescue mission. Overwhelmed and anxious. Killing was so easy, he often found it hard to come to terms with saving lives. Especially when those lives were connected to people who could kill you. The inner queasiness that was continuously growing now was making time fly and everything that happened in the past twenty four hours felt like it was only minutes ago. 

Noticing Jesse‘s tension, Rita put a hand on his shoulder, “You ready?” she asked, and pulled the wheels of the gurney down and detaching it from the wall.

“As I’ll ever be,” Jesse replied, putting his hat back on and taking hold of the other side of the gurney.

The carrier jolted to a stop. Exterior hooks locked it into place and the door sank open with a hiss. On the other side was Reyes and Morrison, accompanied by Angela. Seeing her between them, Jesse took notice of how small she actually was. But even standing almost a foot shorter than both of the commanders she stood with a more assertive presence than either of them could muster up. Right now, she was in her scrubs, a clipboard under her arm and her caduceus staff in her hands. Gabriel and Jack looked more laid back, Angela looked like she meant business. The four agents took Genji's gurney into hand and eased him down from the carrier to the hangar floor. Coming toward them, Angela twisted her wrist and pressed into the handle of the device, a beam of yellow light streamed from it and connected itself to Genji as they pulled the gurney out of the carrier. Jay and Burke left with Reyes and Morrison to go file their reports.

He and Rita were the ones rolling the gurney while Angela and a few other doctors who had appeared worked swiftly and silently. Jesse knew it wasn’t the time for words, he just watched, tight lipped, as they took his vitals. His heart rate was dangerously low, which Angela only huffed at. They went around corners, down hallways, up stairs, and through several groups of people just to wheel Genji to the operating room.

Maybe it was the warmth that radiated from her staff beam that pulled his eyes in her direction, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She seemed shaken up, upset. Her scrubs had been put on haphazardly and everything about her was out of place. She had been working all night again, he could see it in her eyes. Jesse wondered what she had been doing the past day he was gone, what her plan was for this operation that would make or break Genji's chance at survival. He almost caught his boot under the wheels when they turned, and in doing so Angela flashed him a glare, making the decision for him not to look over at her again.

“Down this hallway,” She commanded, pointing to the left. They made another turn and there was the room. It was dark inside, he could hardly believe that this place was going to be Genji’s salvation. It was so cold. They wheeled him in, and when Angela and her three doctors made their move towards him, Jesse waved them off. He would do it himself. He hooked his arms underneath the dying man and transferred him from the gurney to the table for them. They made quick work of cutting Genji’s shirt off to reveal the horrible sliced flesh and Jesse heard Angela hiss something in German that distinctively sounded like ‘fuck’. Jesse took to staring again. There were faded scars that matched the fresh cuts, no doubt the work of the clan during 'training' sessions. Jesse had heard how hard the Shimada Clan was on it's members, and the heirs must be no exception. Rita excused herself, looking pale and green with sickness. He made the decision to follow her, and gave the room one final sweeping look before locking eyes with Angela.

“I’ll save him” She promised with a tired rasp.

“I know you will Angel, you got this," He affirmed. he didn’t turn around, instead he opted to just walk backwards and watch as the assistants started pulling open the wounds to sew up the internal damage. When his back hit the door he reached behind him for the knob, and quickly made his exit.

He pivoted in the doorway and found himself face to face with Gabriel.  

“There you are,” his mentor said. Rita was behind him, still looking sick. Gabriel started to speak to him, but anything that was being said was drowned out by the itching desire to storm back into the operating room and stay. 

“You don’t want to go back in there, Jesse,” Gabriel said, “You gotta relax now, unwind so you can think clearly. Ziegler’s got this, your job is done.”

“Don’t feel like it,” Jesse said, “It ain’t done till I know he’ll live.”

“We won’t know that for a long while now, and I’m not letting you stay down here to find out. Come on, you two look like shit. Come upstairs, give your reports, then you’re free to go do whatever you want,” Gabriel reasoned. Jesse gave in, always being swayed almost too easily at his insistence. He threw an arm around him while Rita followed behind. They made stops and both their rooms so they could stow their equipment, then taken upstairs back beyond the hangar and into a different set of hallways. Gabriel brought them towards two rooms, one for Rita which she disappeared into almost immediately, and one for Jesse, which Gabriel held open for him. It was dim like it usually was, with only a table and a stack of paperwork. 

“How do I keep ending up in these situations Gabe?” Jesse said, sliding the chair back and taking a seat, “Just like the day we met except you threw me in instead of holding the door.” 

“Mm, well executing dangerous rescue missions without prior approval will do it for sure. This’ll only take a minute. I just need you to fill these out with as many details as you can remember.” 

“Well for starters it was about 60 degrees fahrenheit,” Jesse huffed, taking the pen and removing his hat for concentration. 

“Smartass,” Gabriel muttered, leaning on the back two legs of his chair. 

Jesse looked at the stack of papers and immediately the writing went fuzzy. It was hard to concentrate, Angela’s face kept coming up in the back of his mind, then Genji, his broken form in that dumpster. He worked through the massive headache that was coming on, and managed to get halfway through the report when he leaned back for a mental break. In pause, he thought of something, and looked up at Gabriel who was watching him with his arms crossed.    
“Something wrong?” he asked. 

Jesse loosened his grip on the pen and looked back at the paperwork absentmindedly. “Is Angel okay?” His mouth asked without thought. 

Gabriel tilted his head and questioned, “Ziegler? All I know is that she was up all night. Probably working through this UN predicament. Hopefully if she manages to do some spectacular work here today she can hold them off for a little while longer.” 

Jesse didn’t break contact with the paperwork,  “Hopefully.” There was a pause before his mouth decided it just wasn’t going to wait for Jesse to approve it’s questions today. “Do you think I did the right thing?” 

“You really are shaken, I didn’t believe Jay and Burke when they came up here saying things like ‘Jesse was scared’ I thought it was bullshit to be honest. What makes you think you did anything but the right thing? You saved a life today Jesse.” 

“But that ain’t what we do, and you know it. We kill people Gabriel. We kill people like Genji Shimada, crime lords, their heirs. Do you think it’s a mistake I let someone from one of Overwatch’s biggest threats live?” 

Gabriel tilted his chair back up, “I thought the point of saving his life was asking him to help us. Genji is the rebellious son, remember? I don’t think you made a mistake, I think you’ve helped us. Killing in this job is so easy, Jesse, so easy. You should be proud that you got the opportunity to help someone live.” 

“Okay, then I have no reason to get worked up,” Jesse breathed out, trying to shove Rita’s words back down into the back of his mind. He went back to writing, feeling odd about Gabriel’s presence after such an awkward conversation. He always felt his relationship with Gabriel was much more subtle and not very talkative. Jesse’s worries and feelings were usually reserved for Ana because she was a fantastic listener and giver of advice. Gabriel was the guy you went to when you wanted to beat the shit out of something, not that sniper practice with Ana was any less satisfying of course. It just seemed weird to ask such questions of Gabriel because he was the type of man to show you in only a few sentences that you already knew the answer which more often than not made Jesse feel quite dumbfounded. He was imposing and firm and even after seven years Jesse was still getting used to the fact that the commander of Blackwatch called him his son. There were always times when Jesse questioned whether or not Reyes actually saw him as a son or just a protege, but that question was usually shot down after remembering how he witnessed a genuine fight between Gabriel and Ana over who was actually adopting Jesse when they busted him out of Deadlock. Apparently random sixteen year old kids from Santa Fe, New Mexico moving into your apartment was too conspicuous for one Jack Morrison and they had to come up with a reasonable cover. Adoption was the LAST thing Jesse would have thought of, but it wasn’t Overwatch unless they came up with the most difficult solution to a simple problem. As for who won the fight, Jesse’s paperwork read his name as Jesse Amari McCree, so it was pretty obvious. 

“That’s everything I can remember,” Jesse stated, putting his hat back on.

“Good.” Gabriel took it into his hands. Absently flipping through the pages and skimming the report, he hummed something to himself. When he was done he led them out and back down the hallway to a newer section of the building that looked like an expanded rec room. 

“Now, I’m not going to read this, Jack is, and after that it’s going to be burned, as per Blackwatch protocol. Morrison’s really upset over this whole fiasco, is there anything you feel needs to be said? Stop here by the way, I have to give this to him.” He pointed at a door.

Jesse stopped. There were a million things that needed to be said. Thoughts racing through his mind faster than a rail car. He wanted to make a number of suggestions regarding retaliation, but in the end he only remembered Rita earlier, worried about what was going to happen to Genji, and what was going to happen to them if something went wrong. He pressed his eyes closed and replied, “None of this was my team’s or Shimada’s fault and I was in no way coerced by Genji or anyone else to save his life, it was my own decision. I take full responsibility for my actions, my team’s actions, and his when he wakes up. If Jack wants to punish any of us for almost outing Blackwatch, make it me.” 

Gabriel blinked in surprise. “Alright, I’ll tell Jack who he has to fire if something goes wrong, but I’ll vouch for you if it comes to that.” 

“I know,” Jesse said, opening up the door, “You’ve always got my back Gabe, I appreciate that.” 

“Mm be careful who you say that in front of, I think she’d be jealous,” Gabriel pointed over Jesse’s shoulder to the group of agents in the rec room they had entered. 

He could easily see Jack accompanied by Reinhardt and Torbjorn in the kitchen, deep in conversation. Jesse heard Genji’s name thrown around, but not much else. Shifting his attention, he saw that Gerard Lacroix was sitting on the countertop, locked in conversation with...Ana. There, leaning against the counter top, waving her hand dramatically while she chatted away, was Captain Ana Amari. Her face angled, with thick black hair cascading over her shoulders that contained stripes of gray, and she was everything that Jesse remembered. He took his hat off and laid it down on the counter, not taking his eyes off of her.

“Ana,” he breathed in surprise. He felt foolish, having known she was arriving, but he hadn’t even thought about it since they had brought Genji in. The shock at actually seeing her in front of him was locking him in place. The slow movement of her face as she pulled away from the conversation to look at Jesse was even more exciting and heartwarming. Coupled with wide, surprised eyes, there was a smile that melted his heart and brought back years of memories. So long since he had seen someone so happy to see him.

“Jesse.” She pushed past Gabriel who was going to raid the cabinets and brought Jesse into a spine crushing hug. One arm around him doing most of the crushing while the other was brought up to hold the back of his neck, gripping it like Jesse might collapse on her. She sniffled, pressing her face to his chest, “Oh It‘s been so long Jesse, I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Ma,” Jesse said, burying his face into her hair and accepting the hug that made the muscles in his back ache.

“You’ve gotten so big, I think you’ve grown a few inches,” She said, the waiver in her voice leaving her as she pulled back with her hands firmly on his shoulders, “What is Gabriel feeding you?” Jesse was too giddy with excitement to even give her a response.

“Ain’t my fault the kid grows like a weed,” Reyes muttered, his face full of leftover turkey.

“He’s twenty five,” Gerard laughed from his place on the counter. Reinhardt joined in the laughter, coming to put a thick hand on Jesse’s head and ruffle his hair endlessly. Jack was still off to the side, and Jesse swore he caught an eye roll, which unsettled him greatly. Maybe it was a side effect of his pissing contest with Gabriel, but whenever he was in a group nowadays, he was cold, distant, and unapproachable. But whenever he was alone with Jesse, he seemed just fine. It was something that always made Jesse uncomfortable but he just never found the time to ask. 

“No, Jesse is always our little cowboy,” Ana said in her best baby voice, grabbing at Jesse’s cheek to make her point.

“Alright,” Jesse laughed, accepting his fate. The mood flipped in the instant that she pulled away and he really looked at her.

The world seemed to stop. Everything was coming into perspective at once, Ana calculating his every expression in, taking in his face like she would never see it again, like she was imprinting him into her memory. Jesse put aside the friendly banter and truly realized what this moment meant to the both of them. It was the first time they had seen each other since their fight three years ago. 

“The old gang is back together!” Torbjorn laughed, pulling Ana and Jesse into an awkward hug. The excited noise of Torbjorn and Reinhardt coupled with Gerard and occasionally Gabriel was starting to become too much. He loved them all, and he would be the first to say that he wouldn't give up a day with everyone for all the money in the world, but the presence of the others right now made him uncomfortably warm and out of place. Years of unsaid things were swarming him that he couldn’t let out if he had an audience. 

The ocean of outside disturbance made it difficult to make contact but once their eyes met again Jesse felt he was allowed to tell her everything without the others noticing. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes flicked in the direction of Jack and the others, then at Gabriel, and Jesse sucked in his cheeks in response. She kept her stare fixed on him until he shuffled a foot awkwardly and nodded.

She spoke, turning her head towards the others, ”Boys I think I‘m going to steal Jesse from you for an hour or two so we can catch up,” She announced, ”Do you need him for anything else or can I have some time with my boy alone?” She went to grab her tea from the counter and moved towards the exit.

Jack shook his head, ”We don‘t need him till Angela’s done, take all the time you need Ana.” 

”Good, we‘ll be back to socialize later,” she called with a wave, ushering Jesse towards the door. She hooked their arms and sipped her tea while she led him around to another room furnished with many large plush armchairs. The fireplace was out, and the room seemed to have been untouched for a long time. They took seats opposite each other and Jesse curled up in his chair while Ana sat with her ankles crossed, avidly waiting for him to start. Jesse did everything he could to try and give himself some time to re-gather his thoughts. Thinking up any manner of excuses. All he had wanted for almost three years was a chance to apologize to her in person and now he was fucking it up because he was unprepared.

”Jesse, are you okay?” She asked, leaning forward to take his hand. 

He swallowed, gathering his thoughts, trying to find out where to begin. “Ana I’m sorry,” He said simply, thumbing his hat and looking up at her. “I said some pretty mean stuff when you’ve been nothing but the best to me, and I want you to know that I love ya a lot. I mean, you’re pretty much my Ma now, and I feel like I’ve kind of messed up being your son.”

“Oh you didn’t mess up at all,” She shook her head, “It wasn’t my place to tell you what to do with your life. I knew that the only route for you would end up being Blackwatch. You had all the talent that Gabriel needed in his team and it was foolish of me to think you would stay when you had so much opportunity. I just didn’t want you to leave and I tried to manipulate you into staying. I saw you put on that uniform and all I could see was a body bag.”

He looked up. Her body was slumped, head bowed, staring into her tea. He watched her for minutes. Neither of them could find a way to carry on their conversation, and when Jesse finally started to feel like his throat was cleared of the past, it came back to bite him again. With the memory of what split them apart. 

“I never deserved you watching over me,” He spit out unwillingly. Before he knew it, he felt the heat welling up in his cheeks and thick teardrops dragged down his face, “Ana I’m so sorry.” 

“Oh Jesse,” she gasped, coming out of her chair and kneeling in front of him, “It’s okay. It’s okay. What brought this on? This is so unlike you, are you okay?” she pulled a handkerchief from her coat and started dabbing his face. The lack of response prompted her to pull Jesse out of his chair and into a hug, holding him tight to her chest while he cried. He rarely cried, so he would imagine that Ana was deeply concerned at this point. They had fought over countless things but if Jesse had ever been brought to tears, it was beyond serious. 

“You have had an awful past few days, haven’t you?” It felt more like a statement than a question, usually because when Ana asked him these things, it wasn’t a question, it was more of a confirmation. “Jack and Gabriel told me what happened. It was very brave of you to save that young man’s life, but I imagine the stress is overwhelming right now. Take your time.” 

“How are you always so right?” Jesse wondered. 

“Compared to Fareeha you are an open book.” 

That elicited a tiny laugh, bringing Jesse back from the breaking point for a minute.    
“Are you alright?” She asked as they parted. 

“I think I’m okay now,” he confirmed, wiping his face with his scarf, “I just...you were right, I’m overwhelmed right now.” 

“I can tell Mijo, you’re shaking,” She pointed out. Jesse only smiled, it was a real treat when you heard Ana regurgitate things that Jack and Gabriel said. His amusement didn’t go unnoticed, earning an ‘oh hush’ from her and a small kick. Silence took over again for a few minutes while Ana picked her tea back up and gave it a few swirls.

“Do you like it?” She asked, holding her cup to her chest, “Being in Blackwatch? Is it what you wanted?”

“Yeah,” He replied, “Yeah it is. It’s exciting, dangerous, and I’m damn good at my job. It’s just...lonelier, and I wasn’t really expecting that. I have friends, I mean, Rita and Laurie and Jay are great pals, I just, don’t feel the same as I do when I’m here with everyone.”

“We’ve been missing you here too,” She said, staring into her teacup, “But I’m glad you like your job. Gabriel isn’t being too hard on you, is he? I remember from the crisis, he never quite had the tact that Jack and I do.”

Jesse was quick to defend, “No no he’s loosened up. Outside of missions at least. When we’re on the field, he gets...different. He’s getting...I don’t know, happier? About what we do. Like he enjoys it. It’s a little scary to see him change like that between base and a mission I’ll admit.”

“He’s going through some rough patches,” She agreed, “I don’t think he and Jack have exchanged a word since I’ve been back. They must have fought again.”

“Jack’s back on the whole disband Blackwatch spiel again,” Jesse offered, “Maybe that’s why.”

“When is Jack not trying to disband Blackwatch?” Ana laughed, “I wish we would, but the truth of the matter is we need what your team does. We need the espionage and the bone breaking, that’s just how it goes. Jack knows that, he just doesn’t like it.”

“Yeah, I’d like to see half of the shit Jack could get done if he didn’t have Gabriel and Blackwatch to do the dirty work,” Jesse scoffed, “Honestly, it’s like he wants to sweep Gabe under the rug. I don’t know how he got Strike Commander over the man who literally led you through war but I think it’s going to his head.”

“Jesse,” Ana warned.

“I know, I know, but just because he does a nice thing for me doesn’t mean I have to kiss his ass,” Jesse said, crossing his arms.

“There’s a pretty big line between ass kissing and staying in your lane young man,” Ana said with a hint of amusement, “Jack and Gabriel’s mess is just that. Their mess. Don’t get your young little head involved or else they’ll start using you against each other.”

“You would know, huh?”

“You’re still so smart Jesse,” she smiled, sipping her tea, “So intuitive. So take it from me, the one battle you do not want to be in the middle of is that one. Stick to your duties and let the old men fight.”

“I will,” Jesse promised, “But that doesn’t mean I won’t defend Gabe if I feel I need to.”

“He can defend his own honor, believe me,” Ana said, “His name has been through a lot.” 

“How’s Fareeha?” was the question that came next and once Ana started talking, it was a long time until she stopped. They spent hours in that room, reclaiming the past three years through a whole manner of stories. Jesse barely noticed the windows go from bright blue to pink to dark purple as night took over Gibraltar. Ana was just finishing a recent story involving a shoot out defending the Detroit omnium when the knock came on the door. 

“Yes?” Ana called out. It burst open, revealing a nurse that looked absolutely exasperated. 

“Doctor Ziegler has finished with her primary surgery on the patient that Agent McCree brought in. Commander Morrison said to meet him outside Doctor Ziegler’s office right away.” 

Ana looked back at Jesse, who pressed his back into the plush chair, uncomfortable with the interruption., “Both of us?” 

“He didn’t specify. You are second in command Ma’am, I’m sure it’s not above your paygrade to accompany McCree upstairs.” 

“Alright. Jesse get up, we have to go see what he wants.” She reached over and pulled upwards on his arm. 

Jesse took a deep breath and stood. He grit his teeth the whole time the nurse was leading them back upstairs, retracing most of Jesse’s steps from that day. Arriving in Angela’s office seemed to take no time at all and as soon as her door opened they were rushed inside by the nurse who slammed the door back shut again. Rita, Torbjorn, Reinhardt, and Gerard were standing in a cluster behind Jack, who was leaning on Angela’s desk while she sluggishly stirred a cup of coffee. With her other hand, she seemed to be signing documents. 

“There you are,” Jack sighed, “Everyone is here then, good. I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page with the update on Genji Shimada. Angela, take it away.” 

“Sure thing,” She yawned, “The good news is the procedure was successful, although we did very extensive work in order to keep him alive. The wounds were relatively easy to fix, however the very few minutes he spent in that garbage spread an infection very quickly, especially being left to set in that carrier for a good twelve hours. The biotic fields clearly kept him from passing in that time frame, which is very very fortunate. The bad news being that amputation was necessary, and we need to be ready to negotiate with him as soon as he wakes up, which should be in a few days. The negotiation being how much he is going to tell us. The worse news is that I cannot keep him functioning for much longer. Death is an unlikely issue at this point, but my staff is permanently fixed to him for the time being in order to maintain some of his critical organ function. I’ve already discussed the solution to this with Jack and Gabriel, but I’m only allowed to continue if he agrees to give us what we need.” 

“If he agrees?” Reinhardt asked, “The boy is dying, you don’t think he’ll agree to live?” 

“The saying goes that blood is thicker than water, and when it comes to crime families like that most would rather die than sell out,” Gabriel explained. 

Jack pat Angela’s shoulder and continued, “The point being, if Angela is going to return him to a full independent life, we need him to agree to give up his family. Jesse, you’re free to return to Blackwatch missions as early as you like, but I would like to ask that you help us see this through. You saved his life, and Gabriel tells me you have agreed to take responsibility for all of this. You’re also the closest in age to him, and you don’t solely rely on breaking fingers as a negotiation tactic. If you’re willing to take this on, I would appreciate the extra help, especially if he ends up staying.”

“I can do that,” Jesse agreed. In truth, he was hoping that maybe Gabriel could find him a mission as far away as possible as soon as he could so Jesse could actually get away and do some work so he didn’t have to think about this whole mess, but the problem with taking responsibility was you were often upheld to it, even if you had a way out, Jesse was too honorable to refuse Jack after the spiel he gave Gabe earlier. 

“If you want a negotiator, Jesse is your man,” Gabriel confirmed, giving him a hearty pat on the back. “He can get anyone to talk.” 

“All the young boys love Jesse,” Ana sang for emphasis, nudging Gabriel in the shoulder. The pair of them failing to contain their laughter like a pair of giddy drunkards.    
“Oh my god you told her,” Jesse groaned. 

There were giggles and snorts from the entire rest of the room besides Angela and Jack who appeared to be way too tired to engage, prompting Jack to raise his voice over them, “Alright, enough. Take the pleasantries elsewhere I’m sure Angela would like to go to bed, as would the rest of us. Remember this carries utmost secrecy. Thank you for your time, you’re dismissed.” 

The dispersal of the group led to Gabriel and Ana singing the entirety of the song while they walked back to the barracks. Jesse barely got a few words in with Santiago before they dragged him off with them. The news that he was going to stay in Gibraltar wasn’t really news, the renovations in Blackwatch weren’t due to be done for months anyways. He thought maybe it would be nice to be stuck here watching Genji anyways, he’d probably get more time with Ana and Angela. He agreed with Reinhardt, it shouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that they want to live more than they want to keep secrets, then again, Jesse was never a snitch and found himself in many a situation where he actively opted for death only to be daringly rescued, so maybe not. Like he told Rita, they were just going to have to play it by ear. 


	4. A Bitter Pill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genji! Finally! Holy wow guys I'm sorry for not updating in a long time but life man. I'm no longer sick, thankfully! But I am still traveling and I only get so much time to relax. So updating isn't going to be so frequent, but I'm really doing my best. Being overseas for close to 2 months has sucked out my motivation since I can't play Overwatch, but the Halloween update news really brightened my day, and I have plans for the next chapters, so I'm hopefully going to keep updating frequently-ish. If you have questions about when the next update is, the answer is usually I don't know, unless you catch me when I'm really close to finishing a chapter, and even if I'm not done, I'll always be available to answer questions on my tumblr, Resplendent-Roses, and I'd be more than happy to talk about this fic, plans for the future chapters, characterizations, etc.. Thank you for your time I hope you enjoy this!

After the world went black, there was next to nothing. Occasionally there would be snippets of noises that never registered properly, as if they were just taps on a glass bowl. Maybe a fish bowl, since all Genji Shimada could feel as he died was his head loling in someone’s arms like overflowing water and his heart fluttering rapidly like a drowning goldfish.The fight to stay alive was tooth and nail, the only thing keeping him from letting himself go peacefully was the bubbling rage and betrayal that forced him to go on. He wanted to live, he wanted to live so badly just to spite his brother, his elders, everyone that tried to force him down into death’s embrace. And it was working, he was holding on, just barely, but he was doing it. He should be dead by now. Splashes of red started show, and amongst them he saw a figure in the distance.

“Hanzo,” Genji growled. The figure remained unmoving, but it was clearly the man who just attempted to murder him. “Hanzo!” he hollered. Again and again he shouted his brother’s name, added insults, but no matter how loud he was, it never reached. He hollered once more, this time a crack of pure white erupting behind the figure. He repeated the action, each time the crack growing larger and larger until everything was white, and then it wasn’t. It was a face.

“Genji?” came an unfamiliar voice. It was different from anything he had ever heard. It was most certainly American, but different from a typical American. It sounded oddly like those mercenaries that had come to them a long time ago, but he couldn’t remember what part of America they were from.

“Hanzo?” what was a holler in his mind was only a feeble whisper in reality. He had done it, he was back in the world of the living.

He guessed the face that took up most of his vision must have been shocked judging by the silence despite the fact that his eyes couldn’t focus. He had to strain himself, but details of this person were starting to come to him. A stubbled face, slightly waved hair that reached his chin. Warm brown eyes that made Genji truly appreciate the value of being alive to see another human being, even if he was still going to die. What was he wearing on his head? One of those ridiculous American south hats, what were they called? Cowboy hats, that’s right. Oh, he was southern then. What was he doing in Japan? More importantly how was he currently standing over him. No, not standing, holding him.

The man let out an awkward laugh, “Oho-kaaay….Howdy.”

It was definitely the playboy in him, but this man was kind of cute when he was flustered, and he was definitely southern. Lying half dead in god knows where with a total stranger probably wasn’t the time to think of such things, but he couldn’t help but try and flash a smile. After all, whoever this man was, it seemed like he wasn’t trying to kill him, which was more than he could say of a lot of other first meetings. He was bringing Genji closer, and through the numbness he could just barely feel warmth. Genji wanted to speak too, but right now he seemed to be stuck with “Hanzo”

The man spoke again, “You’re safe now, Partner.”

Safe. That was something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“The name’s Jesse McCree. I’m from Overwatch. We’re going to make sure you stay alive, okay?”

Overwatch! A cowboy in a global peace organization, it was amusing, they certainly did recruit characters. He was hardly surprised considering on the news he saw a literal angel speaking to the United Nations the other week. Staying alive was another story though, but he would be very grateful. Spiting his family by living would be one thing, but being placed in the den of their enemy would be an act of providence. He could tell them anything he wanted. He could add insult to Hanzo’s injury by bringing down the entire empire he was so caught up in upholding. It was going to be fantastic, if he lived of course. He was so caught up in the possibilities that he slipped, and the image of the man faded to a blur, then a flash of white and the crack slowly shrunk until he was back into the darkness, but now that this Jesse McCree person had re-lit the fire of in him, he was able to continue fighting for hours.

And fight he did. Several times the darkness almost had him, but Genji fought back by holding on to the image of those brown eyes, and his need for revenge.

Suddenly air was sucked back into his lungs and the darkness shattered into pure white again. It was blinding, forcing him to blink repeatedly to try and adjust. It was too bright, was he finally dead? No, he still felt like shit so he couldn’t possibly be anything else but alive. What came to him was a view of a white ceiling when his vision started filling in, complete with one bright white light fixed in the center but still with a bit of a blur around the edges and a haziness in his mind. He tried to wiggle his fingers, his toes, anything? Nothing. Nothing was responding to him, which made sense, given he felt numb all over but also seared with pain.

He could feel every stroke of Hanzo’s blade still in his skin, unyielding. Every line, every cut burned like he was being branded. Everything stung and itched, and fidgeting only made it worse.  

Behind the wall there was a string of shouts accompanied by brisk footsteps. The door to his room opened revealing a radiant doctor in a set of blue scrubs, but he recognized her instantly as being the angel woman from the television.

She looked concerned coming over to his bedside. She felt his face then asked, “Genji? Can you hear me?”

There wasn’t any time to reply before a wave a nausea swept over him and he blurted, “I’m going throw up!”

She disappeared for a moment but came back quickly with a tub and a paper towel. She held it for him while he vomited and was kind enough to wipe the saliva off of his face while he caught his breath.

“Better?” She asked, feeling his forehead and checking the monitor by his bedside.That was a question he couldn’t answer, he was in so much pain, burning and he wanted to scream at her because that’s all he could feel, it’s all that would come out of his mouth if he opened it again. She turned back to him, and no doubt saw the tears in the corners of his eyes. “You’re in a lot of pain, I’m getting you started up on some medication, it’ll go down in about a half hour,” She told him.

He tried to respond with something more coherent, but his mouth betrayed him by whining “Hurts so bad” to her in distress.

She adjusted a tube that was going into his arm, “I know, but you’re doing very well Genji, you’re going to feel better soon, I promise. You’re at an Overwatch watchpoint on the rock of Gibraltar. My name is Doctor Angela Ziegler, I’ve been tending to you since you arrived forty eight hours ago. Our agents picked you up in Hanamura, I’m afraid you’ve undergone some serious trauma.”

“I remember,” He interrupted, flashes of Hanzo’s angry face running through his mind, then his mother standing over him, with his aunt. Then another face came to mind, a man with his arms around him, staring down with concern. Warm eyes and a funny hat. His head pulsed, the pain unwilling to let Genji forget it was there.”I remember the cowboy saved me,” He told her.

“Jesse? He’s the one that brought you here.”

“Jesse McCree,” he affirmed.

She hesitated before answering, “Yes.” There was a long pause where she took time to look at her clipboard, but he could easily tell it was so she could avoid making eye contact with him while she thought of something. When she finished, she simply said, “Genji, I have some difficult news for you.”

He winced when fresh pain shot up his spine, “What?”

She pursed her lips, not in an angered way, but nervous, apologetic, “When you were brought in-”

She was interrupted by the door being thrown open and a man marching in.

“Santiago told me he was awake-” The man froze, laying eyes on Genji, and that’s when he realized that it wasn’t someone new, it was Jesse McCree. He wasn’t in black or clad in armor anymore, but he still had the hat and scarf, he even shaved.

“Um yes, he’s awake,” Doctor Ziegler said, watching McCree with curiosity as he stood there gaping like a fish.

Genji breathed a sigh of relief, “Mister McCree.” A familiar face immediately washed away the tension and allowed him to forget the pain for a moment, even though the face was still relatively new to him.

“Um, mornin’ Mister Shimada. You uh, remember me?” It was like their first meeting again, McCree was nervous and fidgeting, but kind brown eyes still showed concern.

“Of course I remember” Genji told him,  “You dragged me out of a dumpster?” He winced, every word out of his mouth felt like his tongue was boiling, his jaw seared with pain.

“That I did,” he laughed, then sputtered, “I about dropped you a couple times though.” That flustered face almost brought some warmth back into Genji’s chest.

Genji managed a small laugh, “You did, but you still saved my life, thank you.”

“Yeah,” McCree rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, down at Doctor Ziegler’s shoes, which coincidentally she was also looking at. It was then that his face started feeling hot. His eyes flicked between the two of them, both of their kind faces, drawn away from him because of what? Guilt? Those eyes...maybe they would give him just a sliver of comfort for whatever this doctor was going to tell him. Maybe he was dying after all. Maybe Hanzo was going to get the last laugh.

“Doctor Zie-gler?,” he said tripping over her name, and both of their heads shot up again, “What were you saying?” drawing himself away from McCree and back towards the angel brought the pain raging back, unable to distract himself from it anymore.

Doctor Ziegler came up from leaning on the wall and walked forward to stand by McCree’s side and she put a hand on his shoulder.

“Your brother did extensive damage to your limbs and some of you internal organs. I performed surgery on you yesterday when you arrived in Gibraltar. It shouldn’t have been fatal if I had been there on sight, however when they decided to,” she paused, hesitant, but continued “...dispose, of your body, an infection set in your wounds that complicated the procedure. I’m sorry to say I had to amputate in order to keep it from spreading and killing you.”

“Amputate,” Genji croaked, “What’s gone?”

She held out the clipboard that she had previously been holding to her chest and put it in front of his face so he could see. The page on top was a diagram of the human body, and there were red lines through the arms and legs, with some parts shaded in. He almost stopped breathing when he saw it, and made a choking noise as he took it in.

“Both of your legs were taken off bellow the knee. Your left arm is relatively okay except for some scarring, but your right is...completely gone. Your jaw is in tact, but badly broken, it's going to need reinforcements as will your neck. I’m so sorry,” She said, “There wasn’t much I could do. I tried to save what I could, but the truth is you’re very lucky to be alive.”

He tried again to wiggle his fingers, his toes, anything, to see if she was lying. Maybe it was a horrible trick and Hanzo was waiting on the other side of the door to tell him it was all a joke and that he was fine, that none of it had happened. He couldn’t feel anything. He couldn’t move anything.

“You’re not serious,” He said, looking between her and McCree, “Please tell me you’re not being serious, it’s a joke, right? Hanzo paid you to scare me?”

The angel and the cowboy exchanged looks, and McCree looked boiling mad, while Ziegler looked regretful.

“I am serious, but I’m also very confident that you’ll be able to make a full recovery, it’s going to take time, but I have a number of procedures that will make you stronger, and will give you one hundred percent independence and functionality.”

He stared at the blanket he had been tucked into that conveniently prevented him from seeing his body.

“You’re confident I’ll recover? You’ve taken off most of my limbs, and you said I have internal damage. I’m hooked up to that stick on the wall? How can you be confident? This is a disaster!” the anger flared up in him, speaking to her accusingly, “There is nothing to be hopeful about! I’m just going to be in pain...” He trailed off, trying to wrap his head around it, he felt the anger dissolve quickly into a more pressing issue in his head. “How could he do this to me?” he choked, and suddenly he couldn’t hold anything back.”Why did I deserve this? They had me killed because I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I...I thought I was going to wake up and be okay. I thought I’d have a chance; when you saved me and said you were Overwatch, I thought I could join you and help you destroy the empire. Now I’m here, with nothing. How could Hanzo do this...”

His face was hot and wet with tears. He looked up, expecting them to pity him from a distance, but was surprised when a large hand was on his shoulder and the cowboy was out of his seat and crouching next to him.

“Listen to me, you didn’t deserve this, you didn’t deserve this at all, and this is a complete bitch of a situation, honestly, it fucking sucks, and there is no way in hell that he or your elders could make any excuse for why this ‘needed’ to happen. Bad things like this happen for bad reasons. We’re going to do everything we can to help you,” McCree told him, “I swear on my life that we’re going to get you through this, okay? You want to take down their operation? We’re gonna do just that and you’re gonna help us. Angela can do anything.”

Doctor Ziegler nodded in agreement, “Our commander, Jack Morrison, has given me the okay to start procedures on you as soon as I can, it will take a few weeks to get everything done, but I will be more than happy to sit down with you and explain everything that I’m going to do and explain how it will work, but not for a while, you need time to rest.”  

Genji swallowed, taking it in for a second before his body convulsed slightly. Doctor Ziegler watched him, wary, before she commanded McCree, “Grab that bucket!” And Genji found himself throwing up again, this time it was McCree wiping his face.

“Sorry,” Genji coughed.

The other man merely shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, it comes with the procedures, nothing to be ashamed of, and not a problem for me to help out.”

Genji nodded.

And he blacked out again.

The next time he came to, he was more coherent. There was much less blur in his vision, and there was still pain, but it had faded past the fiery intensity of what it used to be. With a groan he shifted in bed and did his best to roll his neck to get the cricks out. He waited for more shouts and the return of the angel, but she didn’t come. Everything was the same in the room except for a visitor.

The man who saved his life, Jesse McCree, was asleep in the chair by his bedside. He still wore his scarf, and the hat was on the small table. Genji froze up. He had no idea what time it was, would it be reasonable to wake him? His limbs ached, he could use something to distract him from the pain.

Before Genji could open his mouth to try and rouse the cowboy, the door to his room opened. It certainly wasn’t Doctor Ziegler. It was a different woman in a blue uniform, long, braided, salt and pepper hair. She was wearing a beret and carrying a blanket. She barely noticed Genji until she got to Jesse’s side and laid the blanket over him. She turned around, looking for something when she met eyes with Genji and jumped with a yelp. He held back a laugh as she straightened herself.

“Goodness, you scared me,” She gasped, “When did you wake up?”

“Right before you came in,” He replied.

“Sorry, I’m just here for Jesse, you can go back to sleep if you want. Angela- sorry- Doctor Ziegler said you were exhausted, and in so much pain. More rest will probably do you some good.”

He blinked, then looked at Jesse, “I don’t want to go back to sleep. I’m ready to be up. I want to know what’s going on.”

“Oh I bet,” She smoothed Jesse’s blanket and stood up straight, “I’ll go get her for you then, she should probably know you’re awake.” She looked back at Genji, and noticed that he was staring at the cowboy, with a certain curiosity in his eyes, like a kitten. She pressed a hand into Jesse’s shoulder and shook him.

“Wha?” He yawned. Genji was surprised, he expected her to let him sleep until Doctor Ziegler came back.

“Get up,” She commanded, “Genji’s awake.”

That got him up. He jerked upright in his seat and managed to fling the blanket over back into her arms, earning a snort of amusement from Genji.

“He is?!” His head turned in the direction of the hospital bed and they met eyes. “He is,” he repeated as a statement. He put his hat back on and looked back at Genji.

“I’ll leave you to it, I’m going to go get  Angela,” The woman pat McCree’s shoulder and walked out with the blanket. There was a moment of silence between them as they just stared. McCree looked spooked, and Genji for sure felt like his face didn’t look much calmer. It was McCree who spoke first, while Genji continued to stare.

“How you feeling?”

“Everything hurts, but not as bad as before,” He replied.

“I’m so sorry,” McCree rested his elbows on his knees, and looked up with such guilt, like he had just turned a girl down on prom night or something. Or a guy, who was Genji to make assumptions?

“You don’t have to be sorry, Mister McCree,” Genji replied, “That is, unless your name is secretly Hanzo, which I doubt, my brother would never dress so ridiculous.”

“Hey, I dress perfectly fine,” McCree laughed.

“Oh, so all Americans dress like cowboys?” Genji mused, “I was unaware.”

“Only the cool ones,” McCree clarified, “And you can just call me Jesse, by the way. I ain’t anyone important.”

Genji decided, “Then you have to call me Genji. Mister Shimada is only fitting for my father.” There was silence before he added “Or Hanzo.”

“Deal,” Jesse said, “And about being sorry, I just feel like I shoulda been there to break up your fight. I was in the vicinity, I probably could have gotten in there and stopped him, but we were all too shocked, and too short on time…”

Genji understood. His life was full of ‘what if’s and ‘if only’s, and that was clearly what Jesse was hung on now, which he shouldn’t be,“It’s still not your fault. You saved my life, that’s all that matters to me."

Jesse pressed his eyes shut and sighed. It took him a moment before he came back with, “You don’t gotta thank me, it’s my job, and I really, really wish I could have done more for you. Angie said we got a big gig coming up that’s going to take up a lot of her staff so I’m gonna be looking after you while you’re here, and I’m gonna do my best to make sure you’re comfortable.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

Jesse frowned, “I also want to give you a word of warning. I have to be honest, the procedures Angela was talking about, they got Jack’s approval, but on a condition.”

“That I talk,” Genji said, “He can ask anything, I’ll give it to him. I want that castle to burn for this. I've always hated that empire, but until my father died, I was protected enough to not have to worry about an escape plan.”

“Well that’s all I needed to hear,” Jesse said, surprised, “They put me in here with you to negotiate, but you already got your mind made up. Although I'm sure Jack is going to make you sign a billion papers that swears you're not a double agent or we reserve the right to off you or something.”

Genji stared down at his blanket in amusement, “I made my decision as soon as you told me you were Overwatch. I had plans to run away and hopefully find one of you and join up, but I guess December was a little too late for the grand scheme of things. Also, I think I need a new arm before I can sign anything, I was right handed.”

“I guess so.”

Genji’s eyes lingered over the lumps in the blanket. He could see where his legs had been taken off, and his arm too. “What is she going to do to me?” He asked, his voice trembling. The pain in his jaw returned, and he wondered just how badly it was broken.

Jesse leaned back in his seat and pulled out a cigar, then realizing where he was, anxiously put it back. “I don’t know. She’s been working with our engineer, Torbjorn, I think they’re coming up with some prosthesis. But they must be pretty advanced if she promised to get you back to one hundred percent unless it was an expression. Everyone here trusts her with their lives, myself included, so I think it’s safe to say she’s not going to do anything terrible to you.” Next to him, Genji was staring down at his blanket with little expression on his face. "Are you...are you scared?"

"Terrified," he responded quiet enough that Jesse was sure his voice would hold little competition to dropping a pin.

"Angela is going to take great care of you. I'm gonna take great care of you. Anything you need, I'm your man. I'm already bartering to get you a room next to me once I bust you outta here."

"You're very kind," Genji said, equally quiet.

Jesse pulled his chair closer and eyed the door before he muttered, "Trust me, joining Overwatch ain't gonna be a walk in the park, especially for guys like you and me. The criminal ties, less than pristine reputation, being much better looking than half the team, they're going to try and eat you alive. I've been there before. They still threaten to send me back to prison, and it's been seven years since I joined. You need someone in your corner, not that I doubt you, I'm sure you can beat the shit out of anybody that wrongs you, but Commander Reyes has a soft spot for me. The rumors are going to hit your ears quicker than anything else, so I'm confirming it. If anybody fucks with you, I'll take care of it. They're not exactly the uh, most accepting bunch around here, especially if you fight back. And take it from me, when you're trying to turn your life around like this, those assholes are the last thing you need in your business."

Genji opened his mouth to reply but they were interrupted by the door opening. In walked Doctor Ziegler, followed by a woman. She was tall, dark haired, and had an uptight commander look to her, but not quite, more like she was trying to impress. It oddly reminded him of Hanzo. The doctor caught his eye however, she looked grey in the face, deflated. She had bags under her eyes, but somehow still looked chipper. He wondered what was keeping her up at night. Working on whatever she was going to do to him?

"Santiago," Jesse mumbled. Genji could feel his breath on the side of his face, and it was the warmest he had felt since he arrived, but Jesse quickly backed off to get out of their way.

“Hello again Genji,” she said, brandishing her stethoscope,  “Ana said you were awake so I thought I’d come check on your readings. This is Agent Rita Santiago, she was with Jesse in Hanamura, and saw you safely back to base.

"Hey," She greeted him, "You look like you're feeling better. I was here with Jesse for a while, but this is the first time we've really met," and her stance completely released itself into something much more shy. She held her hands in front of her body, and was turned towards Jesse. He looked to the cowboy, curious, and Jesse came back with a bright smile.

"Thank you for helping me," he said.

"Of course, it's all in the job, you know? Glad we got you here okay," She reached out to shake his hand, and in realizing her mistake, drew back and clutched her hand to her chest, instead turning to Jesse.

"We got an issue, cowboy," she whispered.

Jesse leaned in and straightened his scarf, "What's that?"

"Details just came back on that message that brought us to Hanamura. It wasn't him," She said, her eyes flicking to Genji and back. Angela and Genji could surely hear both of them, but Angela had started distracting Genji with medical questions, and took a stethoscope to his chest and poking at him. "Jack's furious," she added, "Going on about spies and security breaches. This is exactly what I was warning you about. There's something else. About Angela-"

"We can't talk about this now," Jesse hushed her, "I gotta finish things up with Angel, and then I'll go get Genji some food. We'll talk then."

"Deal."

Genji thought Doctor Ziegler was being sneaky, but he heard every word of the conversation nonetheless. Rita stood up straight and eyed Doctor Ziegler suspiciously, before leaning in towards him, "Jesse is a great judge of character, and he's been very worried about you. If you need anything, just ask."

"Of course," Genji responded. She left quickly and slammed the door as she left. Jesse huffed, crossing his arms. "Already suspicious of me?" Genji questioned him.

“Paranoid, the lot of 'em,” Jesse muttered.

“Oh there was no doubt,” Doctor Ziegler replied, "Delicate situations make for horrible paranoia. You remember what it was like for you, Jesse. They were ready to send you to prison on a moment's notice."

"Trust me, I remember," He grunted, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t think it will hold much hindrance on our progress however,” she began, “I have most of your procedures scheduled, and all the necessary components are getting ready as we speak. It’s only been a few days, but my team has really made a breakthrough with revamping our standard prosthesis. They’ve come a long way you know.”

“When do we start?" Genji asked, "And what are you doing?"

"We start in a few days, I managed to clear most of my schedule for this, and basically what we’re going to be doing is integrating prosthetics into your body, meaning permanently of course. It’s going to start with a procedure to put wiring into your spinal cord for nerve connection and then one for your torso so we can fix some of your organs and fit them with mechanical components to keep them functioning properly, like your heart and liver, and then we have two sets, first your arms where we'll also reinforce your neck and jaw, then your legs and hips where we place the actual prosthesis and then you’re done.”

“You’re making me into an omnic,” Genji clarified.

“No, you’ll still have much of your flesh in tact, I assure you,” She said quickly, “I promise, we’re only going to do what is necessary, we’re not going to tinker like mad scientists, it’s only what we need to have done.”

He pursed his lips, "You said something was wrong with my heart?”

She rubbed her hand, her head bowed, “Well, your heart did stop just after Jesse originally brought you in, there was extensive blood loss, and several areas of your body lost blood flow. We have a mechanism that is going to make sure your blood keeps flowing throughout your flesh, and ensure that it also goes into the parts of your body that are going to be grafted into your new limbs. It's going to extend from your brain into your neck, and then your respective limbs. You have every right to refuse of course, but you could die if any complications present themselves, and you would live-”

Jesse was at a loss for words, looking down at Genji, wondering what his reaction would be.

“Without limbs, and probably paralyzed. I get it, you know.” he told her.

She smoothed out her lab coat and told him, “It’s going to be a very taxing process Genji, you know that. I expect you’re going to come out of this experience very hurt and angry. Jesse has agreed to help you in any way he can, and we have a number of therapists and doctors including myself that will try to help you with any and every need you have.”

Genji didn't look up from his blanket, “I can do it. And I’m going to wipe that smug grin off of Hanzo’s face. Just you wait.”

“You are a spitfire you know that?” Jesse bursted. It almost sounded dreamy, and turning to look at the cowboy his hat was just a little off tilt and he had a grin a mile wide. He noticed Doctor Ziegler slip out of the room, and even caught the amused expression on her face.

“I have a reputation, so I’ve heard from a certain cowboy,” He replied.

Jesse laughed, "You got me there. Is there anything I can get you? Angela's had you on some IV stuff for the past few days, I imagine you'd like some real food. If you can have it that is, uhm, I gotta ask Angie. But if you can, you want anything?" He stood, and Genji caught sight of his belt buckle, reading "BAMF", which confused him, it must be some American expression, he'd have to ask later.

"I'd love a shot about now," He mused, "Or a smoke. But I could go for just about anything as long as it isn't mush."

"Well we have about five pounds of red cabbage that no one ate, Reinhardt's food is great and all, but I've been to Germany, and he absolutely butchers the cabbage every time. Actually, you probably don't want that. Uhm, well Gabriel made lomo saltado last night, yeah, you'd really like that. Sorry I'm just rambling and you're probably hungry." He was pushing his hat up to scratch his head in thought, and it absolutely amused Genji. He let him ramble just to keep watching him.

"That sounds great," Genji said with a yawn.

Jesse tipped his hat,"If you'll excuse me. I'll be back in a jiffy though, I gotta get a quick smoke in before I settle for the night and I'll get your food."

The door swung closed after he left, and suddenly the brightness in the room seemed to decrease. Genji looked down at his body under the sheets, wondering what he would find if he managed to pull the sheet off. He pressed his head back into his pillow, and decided not to mess with anything, he'd just wait until Jesse returned.

~

Jesse finished his smoke and put the cigarette into the heal of his shoe, when a wisp of blonde hair caught his eye inside. He peeked through the window and saw Morrison and Angela had come out of one of the conference rooms and stopped in the hallway. They were leaning on opposite walls, Angela pulling her hair out of it's tie rather violently. He watched her sink to the floor and wipe her face. Jack remained standing, almost as if he was on watch. Jesse opened the door with a soft pop, and their heads snapped in his direction, Angela jumping slightly.

"Oh, Jesse it's just you," Angela sighed in relief.

"What is going on?" Jesse asked, staring Jack down, barely noticing Gabriel coming out of the adjacent room with Santiago trailing behind him, her head bowed.

Angela shook her head, "Gabriel and Jack are having second thoughts, I'm still allowed to rescue him but...they might not let Genji into Overwatch. They're going to send him to prison."

Jesse stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded. The face Angela was wearing was the face of someone whose life work had just been ripped to pieces and thrown down a storm drain, and Jack, the smug bastard, looking like he usually did when he made executive decisions that no one agreed with. High and mighty. Gabriel beside him looked conflicted, and almost judgmental. He never looked at Jesse like that before.

"Why?" The sound out of Jesse's mouth was nearly a whimper. Angela ran a delicate hand through her hair as she looked up to watch their response.

"It's a trap that's why," Jack replied. He adjusted his coat and shook his head, "Kids like that don't just have their statements planned. He's a spy."

"A spy..." Jesse trailed off. He was at a loss for words. He didn't know how to comprehend what was coming out of Morrison's mouth, and he let loose, "Are you two out of your fucking minds? I know you're a rule follower down to the last comma but he's just another victim. Why would the Shimada Clan would maul their own heir just to get him into Overwatch?"

"I know he didn't send that message to Blackwatch," Jack said, "How could he send it somewhere that doesn't officially exist?. I asked Gabriel to send your team so we could catch who sent it and interrogate them, and all you brought back was Genji. So if he didn't send it, who did? Hanzo probably sent it, knowing you'd come save his brother, they could have followed you. Gabriel told me that Genji was a loose end to them, why wouldn't they kill him with a bullet to the head, tie it up? So if Genji isn't a spy, somebody is."

"Santiago already thought of that," Jesse argued, "We know we could have been followed, and so what? Are we going to throw him out for something he can't control? His own aunt helped us escape, I'd imagine she's doing everything she can to throw them off the trail."

"Why do you care so much, Jesse?" Jack asked, "Why? Why are you so sure he's just another victim, that he's innocent? Because he bled all over you and said some sad words? I know you tend to throw caution into the wind, but not every sad story criminal is you-"

"Enough. If there is a spy, we'll find them," Gabriel spoke up, "Get up Ziegler, go to bed. You'll need rest. You too Mijo. Santiago made some very interesting points to me just now, and if Jack would be so kind as to rejoin us, we'll resolve this."

Jesse helped Angela to her feet and she took his hand and squeezed it so hard he thought it might break. Gabriel nodded at Ana. It wasn't until she had her hands on Jesse's shoulder that he realized she was spinning them around and nudging them in the other direction, towards the hospital rooms. "We'd better leave," She whispered. She pulled them down the hallway to the confusion of both parties.

"What's going on? I'm so confused," Jesse whispered back, "What just happened?" as they made it back outside Genji's room.

Angela hugged herself, her eyes fixated on the tiled floor. Her hair, which usually bobbed while she walked, was flat and lifeless. She cleared her throat and spoke, "Jack told me yesterday, after Genji woke up, that we received news from the UN that I was cleared to block any and every attempt to weaponize my research so long as I showed results. I was so eager, I told them what I was going to do. I told them how I was going to use my technology and Torbjorn's to create a fully sustainable prosthesis integration. I was excited that I could finally put those weapons in the ground for good. But if Genji is set to be taken to prison, the UN will think I'm wasting budget on criminals. If this goes any further I might not even be able to perform surgery on him. The UN could block the whole process, he could die."

"Fuck," Jesse removed his hat, "Fuck, Angela."

"Language," Ana reminded him.

"How much of this are you going to do that's actually going to help Genji, and how much of it is for show for the UN?" Jesse demanded.

"It's all going to help him! I have to do this or he'll die!" She assured him, "It's all real, I promise. Artificial muscles, arteries, bones, all of it is going to help him. Jack asked for my report on all the necessary procedures, and decided it was too much to help someone who might not even be on our side, and he didn't want any of my work going to the UN, he didn't want us fired for 'helping the enemy', and Gabriel agreed. I don't think it was for the same reasons, but Gabriel felt like the UN shouldn't know about Genji just yet, and he felt what I'm going to do to him would make him a very powerful adversary, and didn't want the UN to know that I put that kind of technology in Genji's hands before we were sure of his alignment. And then Santiago came in, said that there was a spy in Blackwatch, someone either telling people about it's existence, or fabricated Genji's letter to get us in Hanamura. When Jack heard this, he was furious. This is so much bigger than refusing Genji's procedures, Jesse, he thinks it's you."

There was a soft thud as Jesse's hat hit the floor.

"He doesn't understand why you care so much. He thinks you're feeding information on Blackwatch to others. He thinks there's a reason you want Genji here. Even Gabriel is suspicious. Santiago and I tried to stand up for you, but Gabriel...he didn't seem like he cared. Jack and I left, but Santiago said she needed to tell Gabriel something else, and that's when you showed up."

"Gabriel...didn't understand?" Jesse asked, feeling his heart clench up. The room pressed down on him,  not even Ana, who was now rubbing his back gently, was relieving the pressure.

Before Angela answered, Santiago came around the corner, looking like she was going to drop any second.

"Rita, what happened?" Angela questioned.

"I vouched for you. Both of you. You're cleared," She explained, "I hope you two know what you're doing."

Angela clung to Jesse's arm, "Vouched for us?"

"I'm the only one not directly connected to the incident. They think you two have motives, Angela pushing back their guns, Jesse...I don't know about a motive but you're suspect number one, because of all these bizarre coincidences. At least Jack thinks you are, but something's wrong with Gabriel. Jack jumped to all sorts of conclusions, and Gabriel...he didn't say anything the entire time. He watched Jack like a hawk, and didn't disagree with him on anything, and arguing is his favorite past time. He was completely neutral. Maybe he knows something we don't, but as soon as I convinced Jack, Gabriel was convinced too, like he was riding on Jack's opinion."

"That's definitely not him," Jesse agreed, "So what did you say that convinced them?"

"All it took was his name," She regretfully admitted, "His name and Gabriel told me he would get Jack and reconsider."

Jesse shuddered, prompting Ana to wrap her arms around his shoulders and squeeze.

"Raleigh."

"That's what made them come back to hear what I had to say. That, and I may or may not have called them useless condescending shit bags for ever daring to think that you would betray them after everything they've done for you. I reminded them of another young man in need that came to them, tortured and branded by the people he thought he could call family. I told them that if Jesse McCree can get the benefit of the doubt, then Genji Shimada should too. And if they couldn't see that, then I was the spy, and they could lock me up whenever they feel like it."

"Rita," Ana gasped, "You didn't."

"Well it's true, isn't it?" Rita retorted, "I was a new recruit, a rookie. I was there when he came in. He killed six of Gabriel's men in under fifteen minutes, but he was on the team within a week. I gave him his first uniform, you think I didn't see? Jesse remembers whose name is on his back, and so does Gabriel, and Jack, and you too. We've all seen those scars. And what has Jesse ever done that wasn't kiss Jack and Gabriel's boots, thanking them for saving his life?"

"Rita, you shouldn't have," Jesse said.

"You have a big heart, Jesse," She frowned, "You know we've all thought of it. Three days isn't exactly long enough to test the quality of a man's convictions, especially when he's been unconscious, but I do know the quality of yours. Are you sure you're really going to trust him?"

"Gabriel trusted me," Jesse said, "You know better than anyone Rita. I was that bloody mess, half dead in the garbage once. You know what Gabriel did for me."

"I know."

"I told Gabriel yesterday that this was on me, and Jack can fire me-"

"Jack firing you if something goes wrong is the least of your problems Jesse," Ana warned, "This could be gambling your teammate's lives. If Genji is a spy, he could hurt people, and you don't want that innocent blood on your hands."

"No I don't," Jesse agreed, "But I have faith that ain't gonna happen."

"Then we're behind you," Angela stepped forward, “And we’re going to show them, aren’t we?”

“We are. Santiago, thank you,” Jesse put a caring hand on her shoulder, “I mean it.”

“It comes with a condition,” She said, “I have to keep full tabs on the two of you, and report any and everything suspicious.”

Angela snorted, “I doubt you’ll see anything over the next few days that isn’t Genji throwing up or Jesse spoon feeding him after I work on his jaw.”

“Spoon feeding!” Jesse gasped, “Fuck, I’m sorry, I was supposed to grab Genji something to eat.”

“Nothing too tough. I’d go with oatmeal. Jesse McCree don’t give me that face. I know it’s basically mush but we don’t want him choking on it,” Angela told him.

“I’ll walk with you,” Ana declared, linking arms with Jesse, “You two girls should probably go to bed. It’s getting late. Jesse and I can handle anything Genji needs for tonight. If anything happens Angela, we’ll be sure to come get you.”

“Goodnight then,” Angela replied, solemness taking over her attitude again, and Santiago’s as well.

Rita muttered, “Night.”

And the two groups split, Jesse and Ana to the kitchen, Angela and Rita to bed.

~

Genji strained to sit up from slouching when his door reopened, coming in was Jesse and the woman from earlier, who he guessed was Ana. She pulled Jesse down by the shirt collar and kissed his cheek. He did the same and she ruffled his hair before replacing his cowboy hat, which Genji didn’t notice had been missing when he came in. There was a soft call of “Night Ma” before she waved at Genji and closed the door noiselessly.

“I brought you some oatmeal, Angela said you shouldn’t eat anything tough, sorry it’s kind of just mush,” Jesse held out the bowl for Genij to see.

Genji’s face distorted into disgust, “I’ll manage. I’m just hungry.”  

Jesse sat down and swirled the spoon around the bowl before retracting it and holding it out for Genji to eat, which the man in the hospital bed hesitantly accepted.

"I cannot believe I have to have you do this," Genji said through the oatmeal, "I'm shoving a packet of oatmeal down Hanzo's throat as soon as I get an arm. Or I become left handed. Whichever comes first" 

Jesse’s mind wandered as he kept offering more spoonfulls of oatmeal. He trusted Genji, he knew he did. He didn’t really know why other than the obvious similarities to himself, but something really drew him to the other man. His gut was rarely wrong. He just hoped the others would start to see it too.

 


End file.
